Google Swiffy Will Swiftly Convert Flash Files into HTML5

Okay, this is some pretty cool news. Google has just released a new product to Labs, called Swiffy. It's purpose? To convert your Flash files to HTML5 at the touch of a button. This gives website owners, designers, developers, and publishers an easy way to ensure their video, animation, and game content can be viewed across all platforms and devices, including the iPad and iPhone, which don't support Flash.

Unless you live under a rock, you're familiar with the Flash-Vs-HTML5 debate, which was fueled by Apple's decision to keep their iPad tablet devices free of Adobe Flash. Google has been fairly public about their love of Flash, but they certainly haven't abandoned HTML5.

But for video creators, animators, designers, and publishers, it's been a bit of a challenge the last couple years to ensure their dynamic content is viewable by all consumers on all devices. In many cases, duplicate versions of content had to be produced--one in Flash and one in HTML5--just to make certain the customer's viewing experience was the same no matter how they connected.

Now, Google's Swiffy aims to help simplify things a bit and minimize the legwork required of publishers. If you head over to Swiffy's page, you'll see this:

It's pretty straightforward. Just check the box stating you know you're not supposed to use Swiffy for copyright violations, then upload your file. Dead simple. There's a great FAQ, as well, should you have any questions. And be sure to check out the Gallery page as well, where you can compare original Flash SWF files with the Swiffy-converted HTML5 versions right on the same page. Slick.

This is pretty huge, I think. Swiffy should save a lot of people a lot of time, without many of them having to know a single thing about HTML5.