What's new in web standards?
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This document summarizes recent developments in web standards. Key points include: the rise of mobile and JavaScript, new real-time communication technologies like WebRTC, debates around DRM extensions, advances in offline capabilities and push notifications, evolving system application APIs, and work on payments, HTTP 2.0, and securing the web. It also discusses upcoming elections for the W3C Technical Architecture Group and encourages getting involved in W3C working groups.
What's new in web standards?
- 1. What’s New in Web Standards? Daniel Appelquist (@torgo) Open Web Advocate, Telefónica Digital Co-Chair, W3C Technical Architecture Group
- 2. The Web is Evolving • The Web is now a mobile platform • Video, 2d & 3d graphics • Increasing primacy of JavaScript • Peer to peer communication technologies • Sophisticated platform APIs • Threat from native application environments
- 3. WebRTC • WebRTC is real-time video, audio, data peer-to-peer browser-to-browser • Makes it easy to build “Skype in your browser” • (by the way, Telefónica’s own TokBox/OpenTok API is a WebRTC-based product) • VP8 or h.264 as mandatory codec • Why does it matter? Could mean the difference between interoperable WebRTC and WebRTC “islands”
- 4. DRM (EME) Debate • Proposed draft extension spec to HTML5 to support “protected (video) content” • The HTML working group has a draft - Google, Microsoft, Netflix • Lots of controversy
- 5. While we are not in favor of DRM, we do hear from many users who want to watch streaming movies to which they rent access rather than “buy to own”. -Brendan Eich, CTO of Mozilla The W3C has a duty to send the DRM-peddlers packing, just as the US courts did in the case of digital TV. There is no market for DRM, no public purpose served by granting a veto to unaccountable, shortsighted media giants who dream of a world where your mouse rings a cashregister with every click and disruption is something that happens to other people, not them. -Cory Doctorow, Author and Futurist For me the open web and the internet are tools that we use to express democratic values, political discourse, parody, use and sharing of culture - DRM does not fit in this image because it is made not to do that. - Amelia Andersdotter, EMP, The Pirate Party The W3C community is currently exploring Web technology that will strike a balance between the rights of creators and the rights of consumers. In this space in particular, W3C seeks to lower the overall proprietary footprint and increase overall interoperability, currently lacking in this area. -Tim Berners-Lee, Director of W3C
- 6. System Applications • What’s a “system application API”? Something outside the Web? Yes and no. • Web features that are privileged - and carry security risks • Task scheduler (née Alarms), Contacts, Messaging, Telephony, Raw Sockets… • Future: Bluetooth, Secure Element (smartcard), System Settings, Network Interface, Calendar…
- 7. Web & Mobile Interest Group • Taking forward the work of CoreMob • “Accelerate the development of Web technology so that it becomes a compelling platform for mobile applications and the obvious choice for cross platform development.” • Looking at end to end scenarios on mobile and what specs are needed to support these • Collecting data and promoting the issues the group things are important / key missing elements/APIs/capabilities in the Web stack Web&Mobile IG: www.w3.org/Mobile/IG/ CoreMob report: coremob.github.io/coremob-2012/
- 8. The Future of Installable Webapps? • Demonstration in Shenzhen: Firefox OS and Tizen phones with same installable (hosted) webapps • W3C (draft) JSON manifest file • Stock Firefox OS / customized Tizen • “Install to home screen” as a core feature of the Web
- 9. Push API • The use case: Web applications that can remotely invoke alerts on your device • • Familiar feature of native platforms W3C Push API almost done • • • Uses a configurable push server Survived patent “exclusion” from Nokia Meanwhile, Apple push API has been released with Mavericks Safari
- 10. /* Hypothetical end-to-end flow! +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +--------+! | webapp | | user | | push | | app |! | | | agent | | server | | server |! +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +--------+! | | | |! |-----register------>| | |! | | | |! | (user accepts) | |! | | | |! | |<-setup push service->| |! | | | |! |<---success---------| | |! | | | |! |<--activate service with PushService attributes----------------->|! | | | |! | | |<--push notification-|! | | | per service API |! | | | |! | | (match to user agent) |! | | | |! | |<--push notification--| |! | | per service protocol | |! | | | |! | (match to webapp) | |! | | | |! |<---system message--| | |! | | | |! */
- 11. Advances in Offline : Service Worker • Off-line is hard; HTML5 “Appcache” doesn’t work well • Service worker: a new architecture to support offline webapps • A separate JavaScript worker that can act as an application-specific proxy • Some assembly required: you’re the application developer, you decide how much off-line service logic your app needs and you build it
- 12. Web Payments • How can the Web better support payments as a first class citizen? • The stakeholders include traditional financial COs (banks, credit cards, infrastructure), Mobile Operators, traditional disruptors (Paypal, etc…), new disruptors (Bitcoin, etc…) • Can Web standards play a role? (e.g. Web crypto, access to the “secure element”) • Workshop happening: 24-25 March 2014, Paris Bring all stakeholders together - watch this space
- 13. HTTP 2.0 • IETF specification in working draft phase but consolidating quickly • Incorporates many improvements on HTTP from Google’s SPDY work • Confirmed last week by HTTP (IETF) working group chair: HTTP 2.0 will only run over TLS (secure connection) • On the horizon: QUIC UDP-based transport protocol + security + multiplexing could radically improve Web performance
- 14. Securing the Internet / Web • “Post-Snowden” • Lots of energy in IETF (e.g. secure http2) • Lots of discussion in W3C - somewhat less consensus • What can W3C do to “harden” the Web? • Highlight Security Best Practices; Web Crypto API; Focus on the UI of security in the browser
- 15. TAG Election • Technical Architecture Group - a technical steering board for Web Standards • 2 seats up for election this year - nominations in by 29 November • W3C member companies can nominate, but nominees can be from anywhere • Follow us at @w3ctag, check out our work on Github: github.com/w3ctag
- 16. What’s the TAG Working On? • Review and feedback - Web Audio, WebRTC, Web Components, Push API, Web Animations, Web Crypto • Helping with liaisons, especially with IETF (HTTP, JSON) and ECMA TC39 (Javascript, JSON) • Capability URLs best practices • API Design Guide • Extensible Web • Offline Web • EME - architectural issues thereof • “Secure the Web” document: Security recommendations for Web Sites
- 17. Get Involved • w3.org - news and links Basic info, links and news • w3.org/community - Community Groups Incubation of new stuff - e.g. responsive images, copyright reform • Want to participate in a working group? Most working groups have public mailing lists, or become an invited expert • Many working groups are now on Github github.com/w3c/ - many specs including HTML5 github.com/sysapps/ - system applications github.com/w3ctag/ - the TAG github.com/w3c-webmob/ - Web & Mobile Interest Group • Workshops and outreach events