An interesting topic came to light on the forums recently. It seems that at the Google I/O event it was announced that C/C++ code might eventually be able to run natively inside their web browser using a new feature they have named 'Native Client'. The first thing(s) to come to mind are questions regarding security and how Google plan to address this in greater detail.

How does this fit into the scheme of things you ask?

We have various technologies vying for market penetration of their respective 3D plugins, of which Unity is just one. Google themselves are developing an open source standard for this medium and, until recently, seemed to have an advantage in that it would surely be supported natively by both their Chrome OS and internet browser at some point. The recent development, however, compromises their opportunity to monopolise this sector but, in the scheme of things, promises for a more inclusive browsing experience outside of their dedicated open source 3D content delivery system.

To quote Unity developer Jonas Echterhoff...

Yes. A very big step actually. In fact, the Lego Star Wars game Google is showcasing at the native client booth at the I/O conference right now has been tested on Linux (Ubuntu), and worked just fine! 

It does, of course, require running a browser which runs native client (that is, Chrome, for the time being).

So there you have it, official word on the subject. This gives Unity yet another edge against competing open source standards which are likely to be implemented with Mozilla Firefox. As ever, the future is uncertain but the war is happening now and will dictate the development environments of the future.

I leave you with an official Google video on the subject.