John Hrvatin, program manager lead for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, says the move toward a "plug-in-free Web" is already in progress.
"Any site that uses plug-ins needs to understand what … customers experience when browsing plug-in-free. Lots of Web browsing today happens on devices that simply don’t support plug-ins. Even browsers that do support plug-ins offer many ways to run plug-in-free."
The devices Hrvatin references are smartphones and tablets, which do not include browser plug-ins such as Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight. Tablets are wildly popular with consumers and we’ll see a plethora of new devices available this year. In fact, I ranked tablets No. 3 in my "Top 10 real estate tech trends for 2012" column.
According to the infographic "The Tablet Economy," created by Vertic, 97.2 percent of tablet traffic in the U.S. is driven by iPads. More than three-quarters (77 percent) of owners use their tablets daily, with 13 percent watching videos.
Tablet users consume content in a different way than desktop and smartphone users. With tablets, it’s common for users to take in high-quality, long-form video exceeding 20 minutes.
There has been a lot of conversation in the industry of late regarding video. Real estate pros are beginning to understand the unique role that video plays in marketing. They are utilizing the medium to create property tours, showcase neighborhoods and even deliver announcements regarding industry syndication.
Why does HTML5 video need to be the cornerstone of your content strategy?
Mobile should be an integral piece of your content strategy, and the most effective way to deliver video across connected mobile devices is with HTML5 video.
Devon Copley, managing director for media and entertainment at Kaltura, recently spoke at the HTML5 Video Summit in Los Angeles and presented a business case for HTML5 Video. The 30-minute piece features a fascinating discussion originally published on OnlineVideo.net.
"There’s a new breed of online video consumers. It’s not the desktop video user of yore; instead, it’s somebody sitting on the sofa with an iPad or on a train or a bus with an Android phone," said Copley.
"Over 90 percent of smartphones and tablets are HTML5-enabled, and almost 75 percent are HTML5 video only. Without HTML5, you are losing a considerable portion of your audience."
The key takeaway from the Copley’s presentation is that there is a new breed of online consumer driven by mobile use, and in particular the consumption of a tremendous amount of video. Native apps are a wonderful approach to produce a controlled environment. However, you cannot ignore the reach of HTML5 video. Especially in today’s business world.
How do I deliver HTML5 for my real estate business?
Many popular services already being utilized by real estate professionals offer HTML5 video, including: YouTube, Vimeo, WellcomeMat and Kaltura. Give these players a try and test them across your devices. For the more adventurous user, I recently discovered SublimeVideo.
