Google and Adobe join forces on Open Screen Project

Google announces tonight that they would be joining Adobe on something called the Open Screen Project, an initiative to create a consistent runtime environment across the web. In other words, removing the barrier to publishing video on the web.

From the Google Blog:

We've always believed that open platforms lead to greater innovation on the web and we see participating in the Open Screen Project as another step in that direction. We're excited to continue working with the teams at Adobe on pushing the web forward and to see where the next generation of web development will take us.

I'm wondering if Adobe will adopt the <video> tag outlined in the HTML5 spec. To me, that sounds like the most open standard for open screens on the web. Google already heavily lauds HTML5 and the video tag, so hopefully they can have some positive influence on Adobe. No one wants to install a Flash video plugin when they are using a browser for the first time.

The irony though, is that I can't even embed the video Adobe posted on the Open Screen website.