HTML 5: World Wide Web gets an upgrade

The World Wide Web Consortium, or W3C, gave its stamp of approval to HTML 5, a new version of the language used to code Web pages and documents.

The update includes new tools that will allow for much more dynamic Web pages and much more capable Web-based applications. The new standard will allow users to access programs through their Web browsers that can do many of the same things as the apps they might install on their PCs or download to their smartphones. HTML 5 will also allow users to play games or view videos inside their Web browser without the need for plug-in programs like Adobe Flash. And the standard will allow consumers to use Web apps even when they don't have an Internet connection. Perhaps most important, the approval of the standard means that all the technologies incorporated into HTML 5 are now royalty-free. As part of the W3C's standard-making process, all the Web and tech companies involved have agreed not to claim patent infringement on any features found in the update.