Netflix ported WebKit to the PS3 to enable HTML5 goodies, a dynamically updatable UI

Netflix caused a lot of head scratching in October when it started rolling out its new, disc-free Netflix experience for the PS3. Namely, different people were getting a different UI , and there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to the differentiation. Well, it turns out Netflix was flexing a bit of its HTML5 muscle, rapidly testing different experiences to see which ones worked best for users, all without having to push out app updates or back-end changes to accommodate its indecision. Apparently, Netflix’s engineers actually ported WebKit to the PS3 to make all this possible, and hopefully it’s a sign of things to come in the HTML5 iPhone, iPad, and Android apps — which could probably use some serious sprucing, or even a bit of scattered rapid prototyping just to relieve the monotony. It’s also seems to be good news for other PS3 apps which can lean on the framework — presumably VUDU’s own HTML5-based UI took advantage of this when it landed on the PS3 in November . What we’d really love is if Sony and Google are secretly in cahoots to bring the entirety of Chrome and its couch-friendly Google TV UI with it. Hey, we can dream, right? Netflix ported WebKit to the PS3 to enable HTML5 goodies, a dynamically updatable UI originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 04:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Posted by on December 7, 2010. Filed under News, Tech. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry