Some others have expressed great enthusiasm for the WebP image format, an offshoot project to promote WebM video codec royalty free. Google says its smaller files would unload networks and help web pages load faster, but Mozilla likes to emphasize when dealing with these issues, the addition of a new format for the Web means the adding a requirement that all browsers should support it in perpetuity. This does not preclude Google, and Google is a force to be reckoned with: it controls both a colossally large collection of websites and the most used browser. Which allows him to technologies such as WebP, WebRTC and SPDY on the market, even if it does not have all the allies he wants.
The latest example is with WebP.
In a blog post yesterday, Google said on its website that it works Chrome Web Store so that it delivers WebP images when possible instead of JPEG and PNG.
This cuts costs by transferring terabytes of data every day, said product manager Stephen Konig in the blog. Here he is extolling the virtues of WebP:
Converting to PNG or JPEG format WebP, the Chrome Web Store was able to reduce the image size by about 30% on average (here's an example image in JPEG and WebP 8.3kB to 32kB). Given the number of applications for Chrome Web Store is, it adds up to several terabytes of savings every day.
For users, the rubber meets the road when it comes to the speed at which the page loads fine. On this point, with WebP, we could reduce the loadtime homepage about a third - a huge benefit to our users.
It is difficult to get new image formats to make its way, though, as Microsoft found with its format JPEG XR, which, unlike WebM is now truly an international standard. JPEG unparalleled support beyond the Web, of course, cameras, photo kiosks pharmacies, mobile phones, televisions, and more.
But Google has a lot of influence, and as he did with SPDY, it could win allies with his evidence-in-the-pudding approach enabled by Web sites and browser.
Another new format for compression, for those keeping score. Just like Google WebM WebP split the industry players recently completed the development of the video codec and HEVC/H.265 including a still image format compressed result.
