I don't have access to the new design...but does anyone know if they abandoned Flash completely? Meaning, are they actually using HTML5 <audio> or using Flash to play the music?
"Conrad credits his 'incredible engineering team' for pulling off this transition from Flash dependance to HTML5. And while it’s clear that the Flash addiction has been kicked, Conrad notes that they continue to have fall-back Flash elements for browsers not fully HTML5-compliant."
Honestly, even if they still used Flash to play music and did the rest in HTML it would still be a huge improvement.
Since Firefox does not support MP3 or AAC, and IE/Safari do not support OGG they would have to do it in Flash unless they are transcoding server side or only supporting certain browsers.
The reason why they don't go full <audio> and whatever is not because of compatibility. It's about security and copyright infringement. It would be free downloads for all and that would make all the RIAA execs they have deals with very mad.
On pandora.com/newpandora it says "The front-end technology has been rebuilt in HTML 5" but doesn't mention anything about the actual playing of the audio.
The whole point of HTML5 tags like <audio> are to make content completely open. Unfortunately, that's the exact opposite of what what any major record label wants. I'm pretty sure they'll use flash in the background to play the audio, even if the entire site all the way down to the progress bar are HTML5.
