Did A Google Earth Mistake Cause A Couple's Brutal Murder?
Tumblr 101: Tips And Tricks To Get Started
Introducing the next step in Web app development: Google's Native Client
We first reported NaCl back in November 2009. Back then we thought it would tie in with Google's new systems-oriented language Go, but there's no mention of it on the NaCl announcement -- so far you can only compile C or C++ with a modified version of GCC.
There's still an awful lot you can do with C or C++ running natively in the browser though! Along with Mozilla's powerful, functionality-exposing NPAPI Pepper, the SDK also comes with lots of other open-source libraries for manipulating all sorts of data. Watch the video after the break if you want to see what NaCl is capable of -- including an impressive port of Nexuiz running in the browser.
Finally, let's not forget Google is also in the process of building its own high-speed fibre network too -- from eureka to data centre to Web browser, Google wants complete control over your Web Experience. That's vertical integration, folks!
Comments
12
Subscribe to comments3tearMay 13th 2010 8:30AM
Some of the ports are interesting. They've already got ffmpeg and h264: http://code.google.com/p/nativeclient-sdk/source/browse/trunk/src/packages/#packages/scripts
Sebastian AnthonyMay 13th 2010 8:35AM
Yar! Time for a new age of in-the-browser editing of music, video, images...
(It kind of blurs the line between browser and operating system... I wonder what Microsoft will do about that...)
3tearMay 13th 2010 9:25AM
Silverlight I guess.
Chris DekeMay 13th 2010 8:46AM
Video of Nexuiz but no playable demo...lame.
Call me when I can actually use it.
phrayMay 13th 2010 9:16AM
NaCl=salt
+
Pepper.
Haha, clever.
Sebastian AnthonyMay 13th 2010 9:21AM
Ya -- but Pepper is a Mozilla creation, from what I know of it...!
HarshMay 13th 2010 10:53AM
No, pepper is by Google. Mozilla inherited control over the Netscape Plugin Application Programming Interface (NPAPI) from Netscape. Google submitted the NPAPI:Pepper spec to Mozilla and they do seem to like it. Currently only Chrome implements the spec, but you can expect other browsers to follow some time in the future.
Sebastian AnthonyMay 13th 2010 11:00AM
The spec is hosted on Mozilla... but only Chrome implements it...
*boggles*
I will do more research!
HarshMay 13th 2010 5:29PM
Mozilla is to NPAPI what W3C is to HTML
They control the spec
Google are the proposers and the initial implementers of Pepper, Much like how Apple proposed the CSS Transitions to W3C and were also the first to implement it.
3tearMay 13th 2010 9:04PM
I believe Opera also uses the NPAPI spec for its plugins.
alahmnatMay 13th 2010 10:53AM
NaCl is wackle ;)
AurrinMay 21st 2010 5:05AM
Am I the only one who thinks this is a step backwards? They've reinvented the OS on top of a browser on top of an OS. It's like they've run out of room and have started 'innovating' in circles.
And of all the insecure languages, did they *have* to pick C? Why don't you just invite the malware authors right on in for tea while you're at it?