Apple's popular App Store could soon lose its appeal, reports the Guardian. Instead, according to the 2010 Mobile Web Usage Forecast by mobile Internet firm Volantis, HTML5 could become the standard platform for browsers and mobile web applications. Moreover, the forecast predicted that the greatest pull toward the mobile web would be gaming and social networking. Of those polled, 55% said social networking would encourage them to use mobile web and 17% said they would use the mobile web to access games.

Mark Watson, Volantis chief executive, said the results of the poll were good for developers who are turned off by Apple's restrictions on mobile apps. He said: ""The arrival of HTML5 will release developers from the constraints of Flash, making the user experience more varied and allowing the development of entertainment, lifestyle and business apps which are optimized to provide the same experience across all devices. Freeing developers from having to focus on either 'Apple' or 'Other' applications will further drive the mobile web market." If publications seeking to develop a mobile platform feel restricted by Apple's requirements, the HTML5 format could allow them to develop applications that are different from rest.

Watson is not the first to predict a favorable future for the HTML5 platform: Scribd co-founder Jared Friedman also predicted that his HTML5 format would be a better platform for the development of mobile news. Friedman argues that the development of an Apple app is considerably more expensive than his simpler method of converting information directly to an HTML5 format, a process he says takes "a matter of minutes." Thus publications could be drawn to the HTML5 format in light of its relative inexpensiveness and ease.

Also, the Scribd HTML5 platform has already created an app for Forbes. Although Scribd has in the past been a free document-sharing platform, it has been working to build its revenues through the Scribd store and the expansion of its HTML5 platform into the mobile web.

Like Friedman, Watson is optimistic about the compatibility of the HTML5 format and mobile web. "Mobile internet users want compelling web experiences that will allow them quick and seamless access to the services that matter to them most," he said. "With the advancement of HTML5 the limitations of web apps for mobile are declining; inch by inch, function by function, handsets are becoming more web accessible."

Yet, in spite of the promise of the HTML5 format, Apple's app remains to be the most popular mobile platform. When developing a mobile platform, publications first go to Apple to develop a mobile version of their publication.

In spite of the wild popularity of the Apple app, the HTML5 platform could still have a future with the mobile web (particularly as consumers have been reportedly somewhat unimpressed with iPad applications) Josh Halliday, citing a report made by the Denmark-base consult, writes that "Apple's latest mobile offering is 'really bad news' for carriers, warning that mobile operators could well be issuing profit warnings due to large subsidies for the iPhone 4." Should Apple's app prove to be an ultimately inadequate platform for the mobile web, perhaps HTML5 will be able to pick up the slack.

Sources: The Guardian, Strand Reports