White paper: Understanding the state of html 5 and its potential

UnderstandingHTML 5: Today’s Realities and Its Future Market Potential Considerations for using HTML 5 in mobile marketing today and tomorrow

Contents I. Introduction ............................................................................. 3 II. About HTML 5 and Its Potential ................................................. 4 III. Potential Complications & Headaches ........................................ 8 IV. About HTML 5: Where Things Stand Today............................... 9 V. Concluding Statements and Recommendations ......................... 11 VI. Resources ............................................................................ 12 Contributing Authors Rich Moore, Chief Solutions Architect, iLoop Mobile, rich.moore@iloopmobile.com Michael Becker, Managing Director, Mobile Marketing Association North America Michael Ahearn, VP Strategic Marketing, iLoop Mobile, Michael.ahearn@iloopmobile.com Rafal Meczkowski, Project Manager/Usability Architect, iLoop Mobile Virginie Glaenzer, Director of Marketing, iLoop MobileUnderstanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 2

I. IntroductionMobile is the driving force of future traditional and digital consumer engagement. Combinedwith social channels, mobile stands to rewrite the rules of consumer messaging and action.Worldwide, there are over 5.3 billion mobile phone connections (ITU 2011), 3.75 billion uniquemobile users, with an additional 5+ billion “connected devices,” i.e. tablets, game terminals,eBooks, navigation and related devices (Mary Meeker, Morgan Stanley 2010). Contrasting thisto 1.4 billion PCs, and 1.9 billion Internet users worldwide, mobile becomes the clear winner interms of global reach.Research shows us that consumers are quickly leveraging their mobile devices and mobilemedia for all forms of commercial interactions. These interactions range from promotional andsocial media interaction, to loyalty, commerce and customer care, including digitalengagement integrating mobile with traditional retail and media environments as well.In fact, by 2011 consumers will purchase over $119 billion worth of goods and services directlyvia mobile (ABI Research 2011). But mobile has an even bigger influence on traditionalcommercial engagements. In increasing numbers, consumers are using mobile to search, lookup prices and product comparisons, venture to location and time sensitive opportunities andmore. Mobile is estimated to directly and indirectly influence $155B~$230B of U.S. brick andmortar and eCommerce sales.Mobility embodies engagement that is enabled by the latest technologies deployed in mobiledevices, networks and standards. In order to harness the power of mobile and theengagement it offers, it is a strategic imperative that marketers understand and embracerelevant emerging mobile technologies and their impact on marketing.One such technology is HTML 5, and its related revision of CSS3 for cascading style sheets.Note, CSS3 is not part of the formal HTML 5 specification, but many browser updates for HTML5 will also include support for new CSS3 functionality.HTML 5 is a technology that will drastically reshape the Internet and consumer engagement aswe know it today, with global ramifications.Understanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 3

II. About HTML 5 and Its PotentialFirst developed in 2007, and spearheaded by Google and Apple, HTML 5 is the latest revisionof Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), the industry standard for the structure andpresentation of content on the World Wide Web. HTML 5 is powering an entirely newgeneration of Internet experiences, both for broadband Internet and mobile Internet.Today there are 1.4 billion Internet users. However, due to the proliferation and adoption ofmobile devices, by 2015 there will be more people accessing the Internet via a mobile devicethan the traditional Internet (Mary Meeker, Morgan Stanley 2010).What sets HTML 5 apart from the previous versions of HTML is that HTML 5 has the potentialto bring together the last 20 years of the world’s experience with the Internet, and unify it intoa broadly supported standard.HTML 5, once fully deployed, will help reduce device fragmentation issues in the market,enabling marketers to unleash their creativity to create new innovative, intuitive andcompelling engagements via mobile:  Cross-platform, cross-network, static and real-time rich media (e.g. video, audio)  Streamlined social media integration and enablement  Easier and more innovative customer care and relationship marketing  Improved and enhanced user navigation, site usability and automatic content refreshing on mobile sites  Ability to retain user selection, preference and history for a better user specific and context appropriate personalized mobile site experience  New advertising and social media experiences utilizing local storage for context and history  Native app experience within a browser, an experience also known as the “Hybrid App” or “Web App”  Gaming, augmented reality and a wide range of other cloud computing based services which will evolve by leveraging HTML 5 standards and new featuresUnderstanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 4

What makes these new engagements and delivery models possible is the introduction of anumber of new web browser features in the HTML 5 standard that offer these capabilities:  Embed video, audio, barcode scanning, rich media content and more within a browser without requiring third party plug-ins such as Flash, Silverlight and other media players for playback or functionality  Lightweight size and streamlined coding of HTML 5 is ideal for limited memory devices like mobile phones since the page script will be more efficient  Store/cache data and content locally on a device within the browser, which improves performance speed and supports offline access to the data or content experience  Using the HTML 5 image canvas, full gaming environments and other interactive rich media can be created native within the HTML code  Improved semantics providing contextual descriptions for content in the HTML code itself making it an easier to use and more elegant coding language  Advanced Forms where the browser does more work for validation, making Javascripts more efficient and offering faster page rendering  Create a wide range of new engagements that can be adjusted in real-time based on context including: - Interactive drag-and-drop image creation canvases - Content editing and creation (images, audio, video) utilizing enhanced visual navigation and interaction controls - Media playback - Page rendering and presentation styles offering background media and style management, and over 14 new input form field types - Enhanced and easier authoring of touch and scrolling effects - Auto-complete and drop-down menusUnderstanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 5

 Other discussed features for HTML 5 include: - Standardization and unification of metrics and analytics cross platform - UI enhancements such as carrousels, pinch/spread/zoom, pop-over menus, selections spinners etc. - Cross browser consistency for in-page dialogs for confirm/cancel actions  Access a device’s hardware and software features, including: - Camera and microphone (Capture API) - Location/GPS chip using HTML 5 APIs - Contact services (personal contact software) - SMS (text message) - Gyroscope, accelerometer, compass, file and media system using APIs - Notification systems (alarms, reminders) - 3D graphic engines (WebGL library) - NFC and RFID chips  Integrated and streamlined use of background processes both on the device and through secure sockets, allowing for a richer engagement without interrupting the user’s experience, and providing simpler cross-platform application content updates. The improved web service APIs enhances the performance of processor-intensive tasks and scripts in the background, independently of the overall experience.  Reduce the expense and time needed for the rigorous certification, testing and vetting requirements of application stores as they align to the new HTML 5 specification  Initiate content updates faster and more efficiently without complete reload of a web page, which is critical for small screen devices or low bandwidth environments  Interface with existing open standards, for example ORMMA (Open Rich Media for Mobile Advertising)  Segment an audience and deliver tailored content experiences based on a wide range of demographic, location and behavioral factors, or simply enable A/B testing of different marketing interactions utilizing local device segment data persistenceUnderstanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 6

 Leverage familiar and well-understood Internet development skills, tools and processes—HTML 5 is an extension of existing mobile site technologies, specifications and site development processesUnderstanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 7

III. Potential Complications & HeadachesWith the promise of the new capabilities and functionalities of HTML 5 and CSS3, comepossible complications to be aware of:  Competing standards may evolve, particularly initially regarding HTML 5 “support” as different browser vendors interpret the not-yet-final HTML 5 specification and propose—by implementation—different “enhancements” to the basic standard  Historically, mobile devices have utilized XHTML as the standard mobile browser language. There is a next generation XHTML 2 specification that has some support and may also be deployed in some mobile browsers. At the current time, based on actual mobile device browser releases, HTML 5 is the standard being utilized for smart phone operating systems. However, if some mobile browser vendors adopt XHTML 2 as their supported markup language, mobile site publishers may then need to support both HTML 5 and XHTML 2.Until the HTML 5 standard is complete and fully and uniformly rolled out across the majority ofdevices—which is not expected to occur until well into 2014—marketers should be aware ofpotential execution issues, including:  Performance problems  Interoperability issues  Inconsistent browser and device response  Content playback and mime-type support variance across devices  Consumer difficulty in discoverability of services  Digital content rights managements  Overall application experience inconsistencies  Monetization challenges  Evolving browser releases and the refinement process of a consistent HTML 5 standard (or its well understood variations) supported across browsersUnderstanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 8

IV. About HTML 5: Where Things Stand TodayWhile HTML 5 shows great promise, it is far from mainstream today. It is a language in motion,and more time is needed for it to settle down to become a unified standard. As with all newstandards, early browser support varies, particularly in support of the additional “plug in”extensions defined in parallel with the HTML 5 specification.Obviously, in order for an HTML 5 experience to work properly, the device accessing the HTML5 coded site must have a browser that supports HTML 5 (many of which are built with the WebKit framework).As of October 2010, it has been reported that 350 million devices have shipped with partial orcomplete support for HTML 5 worldwide, and another 100 million users have downloadedthird party HTML 5 compliant browsers to their phones (e.g. Bolt, Opera Mobile, Mobile Safari,Mobile Firefox, Skyfire).Furthermore, it is estimated that on average since October 2010, approximately 25 millionhandheld devices a month are being infused into the market through the sales of iOS, Android,Baba, Samsung, Windows Phone Nokia and Blackberry devices, as well as through thedownload of third party browsers.So it can be extrapolated that, by the end of 2011, nearly 750 million HTML 5 compliantdevices may be in the installed market. This is however a small sliver of the over 10 billiondevices in market today.In addition, even if a consumer has an HTML 5 compliant handset and browser, there are noguarantees that the marketer’s experience will be rendered consistently across all devices andbrowsers, since at this time the specification is still being formalized.Understanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 9

In other words, HTML 5 is showing great promise, but it is not mainstream yet, or ready formass marketing campaign deployment. Options / Tradeoffs / Features HTML 5 Custom HTML 4 XHTML Applications Well understood and actualized standard Not Yet Evolving Yes Yes Suitable for feature phone devices No No No Yes Suitable for mobile smart devices Yes Yes No Yes Suitable for mobile network speeds Yes Varies No Yes Consistent cross device experience Not Yet N/A No Yes Created to standardize browsing Yes N/A No Yes experience on PC, tablet and mobile Known HTML 5 Solution Providers Advertising Sites Analytics iLoop Mobile X X Usablenet X Whoop X Netbiscuits X X Scout X Celtra X Medialets X X WebTrends X Adobe Omniture X IVdopia X OnSwipe X PhoneGap XUnderstanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 10

V. Concluding Statements and RecommendationsHTML5 will forever change the face of consumer engagement.However, it is not yet mature enough, nor a final specification, to be a marketer’s exclusive orprimary mobile web solution for mass market reach. Several HTML 5 features are availabletoday that can establish an enhanced “beachhead” of new mobile site capabilities, but the fullcapabilities talked about remain in the spheres of discussion and development.For the time being, HTML 5 will co-exist with traditional mobile Internet and mobile apps, aswell as the wide range of other mobile channels that include SMS, MMS, email, voice, contentand proximity channels.For mass-market objectives, it is premature to focus exclusively on comprehensive HTML 5environments. At the moment, full HTML 5 implementation should be reserved for more nichetarget markets that are advanced mobile users. However, marketers can, and should, considerintegrating a number of the more mature HTML 5 elements and the partner CSS3 extensionssuch as canvas, styles, and current new standards such as location APIs. These matureextensions can augment the experience for customers using HTML 5 compliant browsers, andmarketers can experiment and learn offering user experiences that effectively serve theircustomers’ needs.Understanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 11

VI. Resources  World Wide Web Consortium (W3C): Global organization that sets Internet markup language standards http://www.w3c.org  Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group (WHATWG) http://www.whatwg.org/  Collection of HTML5 sites: http://html5sites.com/ and http://html5gallery.com/  Wholesale Applications Community (WAC): operator driven app development community with open source applications standards http://www.wacapps.net/web/portal  Browser compliance testing tools: The HTML 5 Test http://www.html5test.com and FindmebyIP.com http://findmebyip.com  DeviceAtlas: http://devicatlas.com  Modernizr: http://modernizr.com  Can I Use: http://caniuse.com  HTML Speech Incubator Group (also known as Speech XG) is working to "determine the feasibility of integrating speech technology into HTML 5 http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/htmlspeech/  Wikipedia.org: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML5Understanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 12

Understanding the state of HTML5 and its potential |Page 13

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