During Google I/O 2010, Google have made some very cool announcements, including WebM (a license-free codec for audio and video) and a new hosted Font API.

The new Google Font Directory hosts a collection of Web fonts that can be used in your pages, effectively the same service Typekit offers, in conjunction with the Google Font API.

Last year, I trialled Typekit and posted a brief summary of its strengths and weaknesses as compared to existing stop-gap font replacement technologies sIFR and Cufon. The Google Font API shares some of the cons I listed in that article, with the crucial exception that all fonts within the Font Directory are entirely free to use.

It’s nice to see Typekit co-operating in the venture, though I do wonder how they plan to differentiate their pay-for service from Google’s free one, once the directory has matured and a few bugs I experienced while testing IE8 are ironed out. The API is incredibly easy to use, and the five-minute tutorial is well worth following.

I’m sticking with Cufon for now, but it’s massively encouraging to see Google putting their considerable weight behind this technology.

Tags: cufon, google, typekit, web typography