Google yesterday released a new file format specification called WebP (Web Picture), closely related to their WebM (Web Movie) file format released four months ago. Whereas WebM is the VP8 encoding of multiple frames, a WebP file is the result of intra-coding a single frame. Google claims the encoding reduces file sizes by 40 percent compared to JPEGs. That would mean faster downloads from websites and less strain on networks, especially mobile networks. However, Jason Garret-Glaser, a developer for the open-source x264 encoder, believes that WebP is, like WebM, of lower quality than existing file formats.