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News

• Google's Polymer Web library now ready for production use

  With the 1.0 release of its Polymer library, Google is pushing for a method of building Web applications that leverages the development of interoperable custom elements.

• Google's Polymer 1.0 brings reuse and better branding to Web development

  Signaling Polymer's production readiness, Google announced release 1.0 at its annual I/O developer conference. A core library used to build and style Web components, Polymer transitioned rapidly from concept to production release in less than two years.

• Google Wallet for Digital Goods API is folding

  Google is retiring its Google Wallet for Digital Goods API and is encouraging users to go find other solutions. It will be retired on March 2, 2015, and Google has said that there will be no replacement product.

• Mozilla explores virtual reality Web development

  Mozilla has launched a virtual reality website this week in hopes of inspiring others to build their own.

• Is responsive Web design the answer to cross-platform development?

  Responsive Web design is an emerging trend where applications and websites are designed for optimal viewing across multiple devices and screen sizes using a single code base. But will it fix Web application problems in today's mobile world?

• Google adds new access, analysis to Web performance tool

  Google is upgrading on Thursday its tool for analyzing Web page performance, making it available directly via the Web and offering smartphone page analysis.

• Bankwest launches new website, iPhone app

  Bankwest's revamped website will take advantage of crowd-sourcing with user-generated comparisons and a range of new online-shopping inspired functions designed to reflect a more retail, customer-centric perspective.

• Startup preps Web-based prototyping service

  A new service that allows drag-and-drop prototyping for Web applications is due for release next month and promises to streamline project management by displaying the desired result in real-time.

• HTML 5: Less than it's cracked up to be

  The core idea behind HTML 5, the latest proposed version of the Web's foundation markup language, is to make all resources, not just text and links, widely and uniformly usable across all platforms. Well, that was the theory. In practice, things aren't going to change that much from today's Web, with its reliance on proprietary media formats and methods.

• Google goes with HTML5 over Gears

  Google will end Gears, an open-source plug-in project it launched two years ago to allow Web applications to function even when a computer isn't connected to the Internet, according to a statement from the company.

• Google aims for faster Web downloads with SPDY protocol

  Google is hoping to make Web pages download up to twice as quickly using SPDY, a new application-layer protocol it's experimenting with, the company said in a blog post.