Boxee Embraces HTML5, Switches to Webkit
Boxee is going to switch its integrated web browser from Mozilla's Gecko to Webkit with its next major update, I was told by Boxee Lead Apps Developer and Community Evangelist Rob Spectre. The switch is an attempt to make full use of HTML5 within Boxee …
Context & Ripple Effects
Boxee built its reputation as a community-driven media hub — the fan enthusiasm GigaOM profiled in early 2009 — and its built-in browser has been part of that pitch since. With Google Reader adding HTML5 support back in May 2010 and the <video> tag now positioned as an alternative to plugins like Silverlight, web apps were already drifting toward native markup.
The move confirmed by lead apps developer Rob Spectre swaps out Mozilla's Gecko for WebKit specifically to exploit HTML5 inside the Boxee interface. It matters because it removes one of the few non-desktop holdouts from Gecko's installed base, and it lands amid Mozilla's own push to keep Firefox competitive via the hardware-accelerated Firefox 4 Beta.
First-order effects
- Boxee users get a browser rebuilt around full HTML5 support in the next major update, meaning web-based video and app content rendered natively rather than through plugin-dependent paths.
- Boxee decouples its product roadmap from Mozilla's release cycle, gaining control over rendering performance and feature timing on its own hardware.
Second-order effects
- Mozilla loses an embedded-platform adopter of Gecko at the same moment Firefox 4 Beta is leaning on hardware acceleration and a 23-language beta program to defend mindshare — shrinking Gecko beyond Firefox itself narrows the feedback loop for testing web-standard features.
- Content publishers targeting living-room devices now have one more platform where HTML5 video is the expected path, pressuring them away from Silverlight- and Flash-style plugin delivery.
Third-order effects
- If set-top and connected-device makers keep standardizing on WebKit as the embedded rendering layer, the browser-engine market splits into a WebKit-dominated device ecosystem and a Mozilla-led desktop niche.
- Security researchers' warnings about HTML5's new attack surface become more pressing as engines like WebKit ship richer standards support directly into appliances that receive slower update cycles than desktop browsers.
The trend: Consumer devices are converging on WebKit and HTML5-native rendering, eroding plugin-based video delivery and Gecko's footprint outside Mozilla's own browser.