PHP 4 and MySQL 4 End of Life Announcement

Our approach with WordPress has always been to make it run on common server configurations. We want users to have flexibility when choosing a host for their precious content. Because of this strategy, WordPress runs pretty much anywhere. Web hosting platforms, however, change over time, and we occasionally are able to reevaluate some of the requirements for running WordPress. Now is one of those times. You probably guessed it from the title — we’re finally ready to announce the end of support for PHP 4 and MySQL 4!

First up, the announcement that developers really care about. WordPress 3.1, due in late 2010, will be the last version of WordPress to support PHP 4.

For WordPress 3.2, due in the first half of 2011, we will be raising the minimum required PHP version to 5.2. Why 5.2? Because that’s what the vast majority of WordPress users are using, and it offers substantial improvements over earlier PHP 5 releases. It is also the minimum PHP version that the Drupal and Joomla projects will be supporting in their next versions, both due out this year.

The numbers are now, finally, strongly in favor of this move. Only around 11 percent of WordPress installs are running on a PHP version below 5.2. Many of them are on hosts who support PHP 5.2 — users merely need to change a setting in their hosting control panel to activate it. We believe that percentage will only go down over the rest of the year as hosting providers realize that to support the newest versions of WordPress (or Drupal, or Joomla), they’re going to have to pull the trigger.

In less exciting news, we are also going to be dropping support for MySQL 4 after WordPress 3.1. Fewer than 6 percent of WordPress users are running MySQL 4. The new required MySQL version for WordPress 3.2 will be 5.0.15.

WordPress users will not be able to upgrade to WordPress 3.2 if their hosting environment does not meet these requirements (the built-in updater will prevent it). In order to determine which versions your host provides, we’ve created the Health Check plugin. You can download it manually, or use this handy plugin installation tool I whipped up. Right now, Health Check will only tell you if you’re ready for WordPress 3.2. In a future release it will provide all sorts of useful information about your server and your WordPress install, so hang on to it!

In summary: WordPress 3.1, due in late 2010, will be the last version of WordPress to support PHP 4 and MySQL 4. WordPress 3.2, due in the first half of 2011, will require PHP 5.2 or higher, and MySQL 5.0.15 or higher. Install the Health Check plugin to see if you’re ready!

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Ooyala On How To Measure Social Video Marketing Success

Grant Crowell interviews Bismarck Lepe, co-founder and President of Products for one of today’s leading online video platforms, Ooyala, about how to work with your online video platform provider for doing “social video marketing,” and discuss how “social needs to be a standard part of everybody’s targeting for delivering a message to consumers” today.

Kinect’s launch day bumps and triumphs

CNET reviews the big launch day for Kinect, Microsoft’s motion-control camera for the Xbox 360 and a new platform for developers to build on.

Developers like iPhone, but here comes Android

The iPhone is still the most popular mobile platform among app developers, though interest in Android is revving up, says a new study from Millennial Media.

Originally posted at News – Wireless

23Video Wants To Help Companies Create Customizable, Branded Video Portals

As more businesses of all sizes embrace online video, there is a growing demand for customizable video platforms.  And while Brightcove has lead the charge in providing branded video solutions, there are many businesses that are still not able to afford their services.  A new service, called 23Video, thinks companies are ready to create their own [...]

Brightcove 5 Enhancements Create More Robust and Efficient Platform

Brightcove put out the newest major release of their online video platform. As I’ve been immersed in several different OVPs of late I was looking forward to all of the new features that they’ve got going here and I’m going to try and get in, get my hands dirty and report back to you as [...]

Microsoft Giving Up On Silverlight, Joining HTML5 Party

We now have further confirmation that Microsoft is giving up on its Silverlight rich Internet application platform. Bob Muglia, Microsoft’s president in charge of server and tools, told ZDNet that the company is “shifting away” from Silverlight as a cross-platform development framework, and pushing the HTML5 web standard instead.

There’s been plenty of evidence to suggest this was the case. After all, with the launch of Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft has fully embraced and touted many of HTML5′s features. But it doesn’t just stop there; Microsoft will be leveraging HTML5 for the latest version of its Bing search engine, and is using H.264-encoded HTML5 video in lieu of Silverlight Smooth Streaming for delivery of live video on its Xbox 360 game console.

Microsoft will continue to develop and lean on Silverlight, especially for application development on its recently launched Windows Phone 7 operating system for mobile devices. However, Muglia told ZDNet, “HTML is the only true cross-platform solution for everything, including (Apple’s) iOS platform.”

That Microsoft would align itself with Apple, especially in the embrace of a web standard, might seem peculiar to some. After all, the two software makers have been battling for decades in the PC space, and now are bumping heads in mobile as Microsoft tries to offer up a compelling alternative to Apple’s iPhone.

But it also makes sense that Microsoft would begin de-emphasizing Silverlight as a cross-platform development platform. Despite some of the advances Microsoft was able to push with its development, including HTTP and adaptive bit rate streaming, it wasn’t able to dethrone Flash as the de facto rich Internet application and video platform on the web. And with the emergence of HTML5, it was no longer a matter of playing second fiddle to Adobe, but lagging behind a web standard that was also being rapidly adopted.

To see what Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch has to say about adoption of HTML5 and its positioning against Flash, come see him speak at NewTeeVee Live on November 10 in San Francisco.

Related content on GigaOM Pro:

• HTML5’s a Game-Changer for Web Apps
• Three Reasons Over-The-Top TV Apps Will Beat Big-Cable
• How to Market Your iPhone App: A Developer’s Guide

YouTube Won’t Fix Google TV’s Content Problems

Updated. There’s been an interesting development in the recent Google TV saga, in which the search giant has shifted responsibility for the new TV operating system into its YouTube division, according to a report the SF Chronicle. By doing so, Google hopes its online video site can help Google TV with a lesson in striking content deals. But if that’s the case, it will probably be disappointed.

The whole issue revolves around the lack of premium content available through Google TV and a number of high-profile content companies that have blocked their content from being available on TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes powered by the Google OS. Broadcasters such as ABC, CBS and NBC have all declined to let their web content be played back through the integrated web browser built into Google TV devices built by Sony and Logitech.

The broadcasters were unhappy with the prospect that viewers would be able to watch their web offerings in lieu of live broadcast content on the biggest screen in the home. Since those companies rely on high-value broadcast advertising, as well as increasingly high retransmission fees from cable operators, the idea of giving viewers access to web programming that they can’t monetize as well was a bit of a turn-off. The whole affair has caused a bit of a stir, especially since it takes away from Google’s initial pitch for the TV OS, which was to enable viewers to mix and match web and TV content on the big screen.

But Google TV is primarily a technology platform, and the folks there don’t necessarily have a ton of experience in media matters. As a result, Google is reportedly shifting responsibility for the fledgling TV division into YouTube, which actually has some experience striking content deals with broadcasters like CBS.

The problem is that YouTube itself has had a hard time bringing real high-value, prime-time content onto the site. Most partnerships thus far have included short-form clips of new shows or full-length episodes of older programming. It hasn’t really proven that it can negotiate to add new hit shows or the kind of stuff you’d find on Hulu or broadcast sites.

YouTube is trying to change that, having recently added a pair of execs — Robert Kyncl, former vice president for content acquisition at Netflix, and Dean Gilbert, former vice president of product management for Google TV — to bolster the amount of premium content on the site. But in the short term, it’s difficult to see broadcasters getting on board, unless Google can somehow write a check that makes up for the billions of dollars in broadcast advertising and retrans fees that are at stake if web video competes directly with broadcast programming on Google TV.

We’ve reached out for comment from Google, but haven’t gotten confirmation or more information from YouTube or Google TV representatives about the reported move just yet — but it’s early here on the West Coast. We will update if we hear back.

Update: Google has issued the following statement, denying the key assertion of the SF Chronicle story, that Google has reorged the division to move Google TV within YouTube:

Google TV has been closely aligned with YouTube for years. Although we did reorganize a division within YouTube a month ago, that was based on streamlining our operations so we could make faster decisions and align team goals with the company’s overall business objectives. Just like any rapidly growing organization, it is important for YouTube to evolve and grow to ensure further success in the future. The recently created YouTube Content Organization is run by VP of Content Partnerships Dean Gilbert.

While YouTube says there’s no actual story there, we stand by our initial take on the idea of YouTube leading Google TV content negotiations, which is: Google TV and YouTube will have a hard time convincing broadcasters to unblock their content without writing some very large checks.

To hear what Google TV product lead Rishi Chandra has to say about bringing broadcast content to Google TV, come see him speak at NewTeeVee Live on November 10 in San Francisco.

Related content on GigaOM Pro:

• Will Cable Operators Let the Google Fox Into the Henhouse?
• Cord-cutting? Hold the Phone
• Pay-TV’s Ala Carte Tipping Point

Vid-Biz: Fox-Cablevision, Netflix, Ustream

Fox, Cablevision and FCC’s Learned Helplessness; all about how the FCC wanted the job of “Palace Eunuch” for the Media Barons. So the FCC busily went to work lopping off everything that stood between it and its desired job. Seriously. (Public Knowledge)

Netflix Could Be Racking Up a $2 Billion Content Tab; Netflix has committed $1.2 billion to pay Hollywood studios for the rights to stream their movies and TV shows, up from $229 million three months ago. (MediaMemo)

Ustream Cuts 4.5% Of Its Staff; the online streaming video service Ustream laid off 9 people from its 200 person staff. (TechCrunch)

Cisco’s Online Video Gamble; networking-gear maker Cisco is betting big on Internet video, investing in consumer telepresence and video cameras. (Forbes)

Kantar Video: ‘Gross Ratings Points’ Are For TV, Not Online Video; after years of planning, WPP Group’s Kantar Video is releasing a video platform for marketers that will let them syndicate video and track it across all broadband sites. (paidContent)

Kyte Brings Live Streaming and HTML5 Ads to iOS Devices; the online video platform announced support for live streaming to iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) along with HTML5 ads. (VideoNuze)

Cable, Technology, Media Firms Form Digital Registry; Major studios, cable and technology companies announced the new Entertainment Identifier Registry (EIDR) to track movies, TV shows and other assets the same way books are coded. (Reuters)

It’s ‘Showtime Anytime’ With Comcast; premium cable network Showtime will jump into the TV Everywhere area with the launch of an authenticated streaming service, and it has signed Comcast as its first affiliate for the service. (Multichannel News)

NETGEAR Roku Player Hits Retail Shelves in Time for Holiday Season; the NETGEAR Roku Player is immediately available at major consumer electronics stores including Best Buy, Radio Shack, Fry’s and online at Amazon.com and Buy.com. (press release)