I'll be the first to admit that this development has gotten by me for the last however long that Google has been working on it. There is a new graphic format that is being developed at Google with the aim of replacing the JPEG standard for images. According to what I have read, the WebP format is supposed to be more size efficient than JPEG and PNG (over 20% smaller in both cases) at the same resolution, supports transparency like the PNG and GIF formats, and is capable of both lossy and lossless compression using two very different compression methods.
Why is it important? The WebP format will be able to provide smaller file sizes for graphics used on the web, and also smaller email attachments when sending images.
As of this time the format is supported natively by the Chrome browser, and plug-ins are available for some other browsers. You can find out more about the format from Google here: https://developers.google.com/speed/webp/ . For those interested in being able to use WebP on Windows, the codec is available here: https://developers.google.com/speed/webp/docs/webp_codec?hl=hu-HU
Considering the period that the PNG format was available before becoming a de facto alternative to GIF and JPEG, WebP probably has a couple of years left before becoming ubiquitous. It is good to see that there is continuing development on better image compression standards, especially given the continued adoption of wireless connected devices, where file size and transmission time is a real consideration.
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