The real threat are web apps. The kind that will download to your device the moment you open then, allowing you offline access, whether they’re news, games, email or some other utility. If you don’t believe they’ll work — and eliminate dependencies on plugins outside of open web standards, like flash — go download a free copy of Angry Birds for Google Chrome and try disconnecting from your local network. Magic!

Steve Jobs thought web apps were the future too, in 2008 when he announced that the iPhone would have plenty of apps — all of them available through the browser. As is often the case with Jobs, he was just a little too far ahead of the curve (think of the Newton, his first attempt to create an iPhone-like device) which led him to later reverse himself and create a native app store anyway.

Here’s how Brian Kennish, formerly an engineer at Google and now something of a punk-rock privacy-protecting developer, put it in a recent email:

“One word: distribution. There are 2 billion web users versus 50 million iOS users.”

Interesting, but I’m not sure I’m purchasing it. It will come down to UI/UX. If that can be replicated by a web experience then sure…but if the local app continues to offer the superior feel the web alternative will not take hold.

Google is on a mission to make the Web faster. One thing that slows down pageload times are fat image files. Even JPEG and PNG files can get pretty big. So Google is developing a new image format called WebP (which is a sister format to its WebM project for videos).

It’s hilarious how much Google simply ignores supposed boundaries, like the image formats that the world supports. They’ll just make a new one, make Chrome support it, and wait for everyone to follow.

Love it.

Will Android tablets actually pose a threat to the iPad? Not this year, says Flipboard CEO Mike McCue.

McCue thinks Android still has to work out a few kinks for tablets before it can challenge Apple.

He would know. As a developer of a popular iPad app, he’s taken a look at what Google has to offer. For now, he’s going to focus on iOS.

This is what I’ve been saying all along. Android right now is a promise–especially as a tablet. Flipboard is basically in the top three “must have” tablet applications, and they have no intention of going to Android any time soon.

The cite it just not being ready.

I’ve handled a few Android-based tablets and within 10 seconds I knew this was the case. I picked up the Xoom and when getting ready to enter text into Google the cursor didn’t even fit inside the text box. It was like hanging on for dear life at the bottom of the text box border.

It looked and felt like a mockup project–like a proof of concept. The idea that it’s a competitor–let alone an equal–to iPad right now is simply comical.

To those who would still argue this point, I’ll make some concessions: if you don’t care how things look, feel, or if the top developers are developing for your platform, and you can’t stand the idea of having an Apple device…I’d say an Android tablet might be for you.

I expect them to have this patched before you read this.

Google today launched the Google API Explorer, a tool that lets developers explore the application programming interfaces the company has made available and even test the API functions without leaving the app.

The API Explorer supports the Buzz, Custom Search, Diacritize, Moderator, Shopping, Translate and URL Shortener APIs. Google plans to make more available fairly quickly.

I’m glad I’m not in the recipe search space right now.

Chrome is so incredibly superior that when I see power users (nay, anyone) using Firefox at this point I have to resist the urge to climb up on something high and drop an elbow on them.

If you’re not a power user and you don’t care…use IE8. It’s not bad.

If you care about your browser, use Chrome. It’s what Firefox was supposed to be. gg, Firefox. ::

Um, how did I miss this? I am the color of enthused.