There is still time to register for the "Mobile Web 2: Programming Applications" online training course that started today. Available online and for 6 weeks, this high quality course is taught by Marcos Caceres, who was recently elected to the TAG . During the course, you will learn the latest HTML5 and Javascript APIs that are actually usable in real-world environments, and be able to create mobile Web apps that can ship both online and in application stores. Read the full course description, the online training FAQ and enrol now for 245€ (325 US$) only. Learn more about W3DevCampus, the W3C online training for Web developers.

The W3C Multimodal Interaction (MMI) Working Group is pleased to announce the first webinar on “Developing Portable Mobile Applications with Compelling User Experience using the W3C MMI Architecture”, to be held on January 31, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. ET. The 90-minute webinar, the first in a series, is aimed at Web developers who may find it daunting to incorporate innovative input and output methods such as speech, touch, gesture and swipe into their applications, given the diversity of mobile devices and programming techniques available today. The topic will interest anyone who wants to take advantage of the dramatic increase in new interaction modes, whether for health care, financial services, broadcasting, automotive, gaming, or consumer devices.

Several experts from the industry and analyst communities will share their experiences and views on the explosive growth of opportunities for the development of applications that provide enhanced multimodal user-experiences. Read more and register for the webinar. Learn more about Multimodal Interaction at W3C.

The Browser Testing and Tools Working Group has published a Working Draft of WebDriver. This specification defines the WebDriver API, a platform and language-neutral interface that allows programs or scripts to introspect into, and control the behavior of, a web browser. The WebDriver API is primarily intended to allow developers to write tests that automate a browser from a separate controlling process, but may also be implemented in such a way as to allow in-browser scripts to control a (possibly separate) browser. The WebDriver API is defined by a set of interfaces to discover and manipulate DOM elements on a page, and to control the behavior of the containing browser. This specification also includes a non-normative reference serialization (to JSON) of the interface's invocations and responses that may be useful for browser vendors. Learn more about the Web Testing Activity.

The XML Core Working Group has published a Last Call Working Draft of XML Inclusions (XInclude) Version 1.1. This document specifies a processing model and syntax for general purpose inclusion. Inclusion is accomplished by merging a number of XML information sets into a single composite infoset. Specification of the XML documents (infosets) to be merged and control over the merging process is expressed in XML-friendly syntax (elements, attributes, URI references). Comments are welcome through 22 February. Learn more about the Extensible Markup Language (XML) Activity.

The RDF Working Group has published a Working Draft of RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax. RDF 1.1 Concepts and Abstract Syntax defines an abstract syntax (a data model) which serves to link all RDF-based languages and specifications. The abstract syntax has two key data structures: RDF graphs are sets of subject-predicate-object triples, where the elements may be IRIs, blank nodes, or datatyped literals. They are used to express descriptions of resources. RDF datasets are used to organize collections of RDF graphs, and comprise a default graph and zero or more named graphs. This document also introduces key concepts and terminology, and discusses datatyping and the handling of fragment identifiers in IRIs within RDF graphs. Learn more about the Semantic Web Activity.

The Pointer Events Working Group has published a Working Draft of Pointer Events. This document defines events and related interfaces for handling hardware agnostic pointer input from devices like a mouse, pen, or touchscreen. For compatibility with existing mouse-based content, this specification also describes a mapping to fire DOM-LEVEL-3-EVENTS Mouse Events for pointer device types other than mouse. Learn more about the Rich Web Client Activity.