ReadWriteWeb

HTML5 is the next version of the Web's markup language and is enjoying increasing popularity amongst the developer community. The level of interactivity it enables has probably been the most talked about feature of HTML5, largely due to Apple's controversial refusal to allow Adobe's Flash technology onto its mobile devices. As a result, HTML5 is seen as the best way to get interactivity into mobile browsers. The other big benefit of HTML5 though is that it enables developers to build cross-platform websites. One website that will work just as well across devices - whether PC, smartphone, tablet or another of the increasing array of Internet-connected devices on which people consume media.

It's for the cross-platform utility that magazine publisher Hearst Magazines has announced a plan to convert all of its websites into HTML5 sites, starting with Good Housekeeping.

As the popularity of augmented reality (AR) marketing grows, it is becoming difficult to keep up with all of the important brands that are looking to test out the technology. This is great news for AR fans. As I've mentioned several times before, big brand acceptance of AR as a viable digital marketing platform is a huge precursor to mainstream popularity. In the recent weeks, several big brands have jumped on the AR bandwagon, and some have even gone back for seconds. Here's a run down of some recent activity.

Hearst is showing the Skiff e-reader at CES this week, but the company also just announced a deal with Format Dynamics that focuses on a very different aspect of the online content business: printing hard copies of websites. Printing from most websites tends to result in wasting lots of paper on printing empty pages. Often, the layout of the site also doesn't look quite right on the printed page. Format Dynamics works with publishers to create printed pages that are professionally formatted - and in the process, the company also adds advertising to those pages.

Hearst Magazines Digital Media Web sites, including Seventeen.com and PopularMechanics.com, are rolling out Instant Messaging functionality for their readers to communicate with. Can group chat keep fickle web readers on this publisher's web pages? We suspect that it could work well, but the first implementation we've seen left a lot to be desired.

Powered by fast-growing web IM platform Meebo, these new chat widgets can be accompanied by multimedia that chat users can view together. In a world where the magazine industry has to be feeling some pain from sites like MySpace and Facebook, maybe magazines have to put a little MySpace on their own websites.