ABODE and Microsoft compete for Web 2.0 domination

So, I’ve mentioned Adobe’s Apollo in my last post. Now we have a new contender for Web 2.0 domination (in typical Microsoft fashion) called Silverlight.

The two aren’t entirely similar, though go head-to-head on several fronts. Both applications allow for integration of video, animation and dynamic content. Microsoft’s Silverlight basically goes head-to-head with flash, but has the Microsoft’s software development capabilities to back it up – making it appealing for the new technical direction the web is headed. Adobe on the other hand is making a play to make Windows Media Player an app of the past. Adobe’s Media Player works with .flv files – a file type quickly making .mov files obsolete due to adoption of the file type by popular video sites such as YouTube.

An excerpt from the April 16th Wall Street Journal article, Microsoft, Adobe Set 
A Collision Course on Web:

“The new Apollo technology will let makers of software and online services use Flash to build other computer-based programs that pull information from the Internet. One example: the Adobe Media Player, built using Apollo, which will let users view their favorite online videos alongside those already stored on their computers. People will also be able to rate and comment on videos inside the player. And TV studios and others will be able to embed advertisements in the videos and change the way the player looks to reflect their own brand.

Microsoft's Silverlight, meanwhile, is similar to Flash: It's a piece of software that when downloaded onto a computer lets people view Web sites with advanced features. Microsoft executives tout such Silverlight features -- similar to those already available from Adobe -- as the ability to add overlays like ads and other visuals to videos. Major League Baseball, for instance, may use that function to add features to streaming videos of its live games that create the feeling of actually being in the stadium, says Justin Schaffer, senior vice president of new media at Major League Baseball Advanced Media.”

Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

Major League baseball plans to utilize Silverlight to add real-time scoring and statistics to daily streaming games online. You can read up on Microsoft’s Silverlight here.

Ebay is currently using Apollo to develop a new application which will store data from the web on the users hard drive – allowing for faster and more user-friendly browsing. Learn more about Apollo here.