Apple posts HTML 5 demo page

Company demonstrates the power of HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript--and shows Flash isn't required to build interactive experiences on the Web.

Jim Dalrymple Special to CNET News

Jim Dalrymple has followed Apple and the Mac industry for the last 15 years, first as part of MacCentral and then in various positions at Macworld. Jim also writes about the professional audio market, examining the best ways to record music using a Macintosh. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. He currently runs The Loop.

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Jim Dalrymple

June 4, 2010 10:09 a.m. PT

Apple on Friday posted a demo page showing off the power of HTML5 and what can be done with the technology on a Web page.

The HTML5 Showcase has seven categories of interactive material: Video, Typography, Gallery, Transitions, Audio, 360, and VR. Each category leads to a demo of the agility that each has using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.

For example, the video page lets you scale the movie, add a mask, and change the perspective of the video--all in real time. In the photo gallery page, you can switch from horizontal 2D to vertical 3D layouts in real time using a drop-down menu.

Apple even pulls the curtain back on HTML5 and shows developers how to code similar items themselves. According to Apple, "standards aren't add-ons to the web. They are the web."

Clearly, Apple posted the page to show off HTML5, but also to back its stance against the use of Flash in the iPhone and iPad. By posting a page like this showing rich media and interactivity, Apple is trying to demonstrate that everything associated with Flash on the Web can be done using open standards.

While some have been able to get the HTML5 demos to work in other Web browsers such as Google Chrome, they only worked in Safari for me. Apple notes on its Web site that not "all browsers offer this support. But soon other modern browsers will take advantage of these same web standards."