“Adobe Systems Inc. says it will license its video-enabling Flash software for free for mobile devices to help developers make mobile Internet experiences more closely resemble the experience on computers,’ Amanda Fehd reports for The Associated Press.
MacDailyNews Take: Phew. More than a whiff of desperation just wafted out of San Jose.
Fehd continues, “The world’s fifth-largest software maker is launching what it calls the Open Screen Project with support from phone makers Motorola Inc., Nokia Corp., Samsung Electronics, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba Corp., from chip makers Intel and Qualcomm, and from content providers including NBC Universal, MTV Networks and the BBC, among other companies.”
MacDailyNews Take: All the usual suspects.
Fehd continues, “Notably missing from the list of industry supporters for Adobe’s project is Apple Inc. The iPhone maker does not use Flash on its smart phones, and Chief Executive Steve Jobs has publicly criticized Flash for being too slow. Adobe says it’s working on a version of Flash for the iPhone — now that Apple has released the information needed to custom fit the software to Apple’s operating system.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Jim – TIV” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: Finally, Flash Lite is priced what it’s worth.
Adobe is the 5th largest software vendor.
MS is number 1.
Who ranks 2 – 4?
Just curious…
I flash for free too!
Props to Jim – TIV.
Yay! Flash!
Will probably have to get the iPhone 2 to get much use out of it if not on a WiFi connection.
Hopefully, it doesn’t cause iPhone to crash more than it already does.
One of the reasons I plan to buy the iPhone is that it automatically deletes all the Flashturbation I don’t want to see in the first place. Make my iPhone experience more like the web? You mean I can have a handheld computer with sites that requires endless rounds of plug-in downloads, and site incompatible with anything except IE? I’ll pass in favor of an open standards approach.
@me, you must be British. Correct?
flashturbation…
that’s a winner right there.
Whatever you say about Flash, you DON’T have the internet in your pocket without it. You have the crippled version.
I can’t tell you how many I’ve almost sold to friends and family until I mention it doesn’t have Flash, which negates every video/medium-multimedia site aside from YouTube.
Whatever they need to do, they should do it. Get over it.
We need to coin a name for all these companies who are suddenly “opening” their still-proprietary systems or technologies, so they can basically get non-employees to work on their code for free. (Microsoft’s “open” intiatives, anyone?)
The internet is moving towards open technologies, away from proprietary plugins like Java and Flash. So now the Flash folks are using the “open” buzzword in their “Open” Screen Project, to try to distract from the still-proprietary nature of Flash.
Plus the fact that the lack of Flash in the iPhone automatically neuters the most annoying web ads out there – I see that as a plus, not a minus.
I’m not sure what Apple’s motives are in all of this, but anything they can do to push people away from the invalid assumption that Flash exists in all web browsers is a good thing.
MW: wanted, as in Flash really wants to be wanted.
@Ampar… yeah, I had to clear my cache after surfing that site! lol
I may be a Flash critic, but I still would like to see it on my iPhone. (with an option to turn it off in the system preferences)
If the delay forces Adobe to optimize it for the iPhone (and for other web designers to look for alternatives) then it will be worth the wait.
But I still would like to have it some day soon.
these adobe people are slowwwwwly forgetting about their core customer: the graphic artist. these fools will go the way of qvark, mark my words.
the new plugin architecture of aperture is only the beginning.
as a graphic artist with experience that predates adobe, inc. i can tell you that i have seen them come and seen ’em go.
anytime a company trades in its customers as a forgone asset is on the slippery slope to oblivion.
um flash like Java isn’tallowed on the iPhone according tot he iPhone SDK EULA. No running of external files.
flash will need a special waiver before it can be used on the iPhone.
Have to agree with THE.MAC.GOD, without Flash (even with all it’s inefficiencies) the iPhone and iPod Touch are simply not true Internet devices regardless of whether it’s on EDGE, 3G or WiFi. Hell, I’d even like to see WMV support since some sites I favour still unfortunately only use (Ugh) Windows Media…Of course that won’t be on the iPhone in our lifetime, unless somebody comes up with a great hack with the SDK…
To market a device as a true no-compromise Internet device, you have to support popular formats, even if they’re proprietary…what good is seeing the full webpage if the key part of the page is Flash-based, and replace with a jigsaw puzzle piece icon???
I haven’t seen an Adobe product that isn’t bloated and runs too slow, on almost any hardware. How in the world are they going to make a Flash player for mobile phones that works fast?
The iPhone is probably the most powerful mobile internet device out there, and Flash would likely drag it down. How slow will other phones be? Yikes!
I love flash…. but its gonna need to be completely retuned to make any kind of revelant splash in the mobile market… flash lite is a joke at best
@Neverfade
I believe on the largest list, you will find Oracle, SAP, Apple, IBM, HP, Intel. There could be others. I have forgotten. But I seem to remember the 5 of the top 10 list were in California, one in Washington (MSFT), one in NY (IBM), one in Germany (SAP), and one in China(?). I did not see Adobe on that list though.
@THE.MAC.GOD, “Get over it”? The tough guy trump card. So according to your argument, nothing should ever be changed no matter how bad it is? Flash puts the onus of rendering on the end-user (a good solution when ISP speeds were slower), and mobile devices don’t have the beef for that. The iPhone’s touch screen also doesn’t cater to roll-overs and other mouse conventions. So even with Flash bloating an iPhone and wasting power, users should still just “get over it”?
@ BSOD
HP & Intel??? Yes, while they are known for hardware, they do some software. But enough to be at the top of the pile? I don’t think so.
Oracle, SAP, IBM (includes Lotus) – definitely.
Softbank – maybe. Ditto PeopleSoft.
Adobe had to. Apple is getting quite influent what communication’s concerned and could have a tremendous impact within the next years with a strong QuickTime inhancement. Adobe has to consolidate it’s “not without me” strategy.
Adobe is actually number 9
http://softwaretop100.org/list.php?page=1
Number 9
Number 9
Number 9
No Flash please, there are better ways to do things and the iPhone SDK will foster some really creative “Flash-like” stuff that doesn’t require the evil Flash player. Brilliant move Apple!
there are websites out there (A LOT) that are flash only. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to open safari, type in the URL, and see the little blue icon and not be able to access ANY part of the site. Say what you will but Flash has a BIG base on the web. it may be bloated, etc., but I personally feel like safari is not really a browser unless it can display flash sites, and flash within sites!
“Finally, Flash Lite is priced what it’s worth.”
they are going to send me $5 every time i download it?
You see lots of sites that give you a choice to enter the Flash Site or the HTML site, yet they look and function exactly the same…well not really…the HTML site is usually faster and has more standard functionality.
People are paying premium prices for sites that don’t even need it and then paying the same expensive Flash developer again to do simple updates. It’s madness!
Look at the the Apple site. It has a ton of interactivity, look at those beautiful push down menus and the super clean, functional and scrubbable video controls. Beautiful…and not one swf.
Folks have come to believe that the internet NEEDS Flash. Do we? I’ll bet most sites don’t.