14 DAY TRIAL // The PlayStation 4 is grabbing all the headlines these days, as gamers and gadget geeks alike are interested in what the new console has to bring to the table. Judging from the early reaction, Sony has done plenty of things right, compared to the PlayStation 3 or even with the Xbox One.
Now that the system is out, more details about its inner workings are surfacing. We've known about the hardware specs for a while, but consoles are never about the hardware.
The software side is where it counts, and Sony's Don Olmstead is revealing an interesting tidbit, namely that the entire UI is based on WebGL, the 3D graphics browser technology.
"When you login to your PS4 you are running #WebGL code. The PlayStation Store, the Music and Video Applications, as well as a good chunk of UX are all rendered within the browser," he explained.
It's an interesting choice of technology, as video game consoles have always run custom native software. Yet the PS4 relies on a browser, albeit a custom one, and a standard web technology for a very important piece of the puzzle.
But it is ironic in a way. WebGL was devised as a way to bring 3D graphics to the web, to make it possible for games and other content to run on any device in any browser without having to rewrite the same app every time.
Yet the PS4 is a very specific piece of hardware and software. It is very likely that the WebGL code powering the UI wouldn't run anywhere outside of the PS4, or at least not as smoothly.
It's also telling that, even though it's using a web browser, Sony opted for a fully customized UI built in WebGL, rather than something like standard HTML5 and CSS3.
Still, if you're interested in how Sony did it, Olmstead will be talking about it at the SFHTML5 event early next year in San Francisco.