CBS lets the cat out of the bag on HTML5 video iPad tests
The iPad launch is a little more than a week out and unsurprisingly, Flash support is still nowhere to be seen. Content providers understand that Apple means business with this no Flash stuff, too. While no one else is openly talking about alternate plans just yet, it looks like CBS.com has begun testing HTML5 video playback, no doubt thanks to the iPad.
As first noted by The Other Mac Blog, CBS is apparently doing its testing out in the open, with links to “iPad – test” videos right on the public-facing website. As noted by MacRumors, however, clicking those links in a normal browser will bring you to the Flash versions of the videos in question. When navigating to those links through the iPad SDK simulator, however, they go to HTML5 versions of the videos. This can also be done by mucking with your desktop browser’s User-Agent.
The videos don’t play yet, but fullscreen mode works. Clearly, this is still in testing mode and CBS has a ways to go if it wants this functionality to be ready by iPad launch day on April 3. However, it definitely shows that some major TV networks are taking Apple’s boycott of Flash seriously—they want people to be able to stream their TV shows no matter what technology is being used. Now if only other networks and Hulu would follow the example of CBS… Though we do suspect Hulu is open to trying out HTML5 if there’s enough demand for it.
