Mike Chambers has explained in his blog why Adobe have taken the decision to stop development of the Adobe Flash Player mobile plug-in.

Here are the key reasons:

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• Adobe are focusing work around the Flash Platform on:
• Mobile Applications created with Adobe AIR.
• Adobe are further increasing the amount of resources (both money and engineer) toward HTML5 tools, solutions and browsers.
• Ubiquity of HTML5 on mobile browsers.
• The Flash Player was not going to achieve the same ubiquity on mobile as it has on the desktop.

[/arrowlist]

With the obvious move towards HTML5 as an equivalent or better technology choice to Flash, the decision to get out of the way and allow this type of open standard technology to flourish is welcome relief to manufacturers who had to consult with Adobe relating to the architecture of new models creating what is termed fragmentation in order to get the proprietary technology working on all devices.

On top of this developers would also have to re-purpose content for Flash and HTML5 meaning workloads and costs of development in the mobile world would increase dramatically.

On the topic of Flash on Apple iOS devices Mike stated:

“Just to be very clear on this. No matter what we did, the Flash Player was not going to be available on Apple’s iOS anytime in the foreseeable future.”

With Adobe carrying on with Air and Flash support for desktops we wonder what they actually think of HTML5 currently?

Mike Chambers is seen to be encouraging developers of Flash to look at HTML5 in much more depth as he ponders how far the technology has come and if it can currently really replace Flash for the kind of experiences we all now expect from games and applications. With the development of the next version of Flash well on the way, the truth is that Flash itself is far from dead.

Flash for the future



We feel that Flash continues to play a vital role of enabling features and functionality on the web that are not otherwise possible. As such, we have a long term commitment to the Flash Player on desktops, and are actively working on the next Flash Player version.

Yes it seems that Flash itself will be around for a lot longer still.

Anthony Munns]]> https://www.mobileinquirer.com/2011/adobe-stop-mobile-flash-development/feed/ 1 https://www.mobileinquirer.com/2011/windows-8-kills-off-flash-for-good/ https://www.mobileinquirer.com/2011/windows-8-kills-off-flash-for-good/#comments Fri, 16 Sep 2011 12:39:28 +0000 http://www.mobileinquirer.com/?p=589 Microsoft join Apple to Kill Flash on the web:

You have to love the technology world. Why? Because it keeps you well and truly on your toes! Only the other day I wrote an article about how Adobe had pandered to Apple’s dislike of all things Flash and created a workaround that would allow Apple devices to show Flash video in particular.

Today, we hear that Microsoft Window’s much anticipated update to the Windows 7 series, Windows 8, will most likely kill off flash support, also signalling the perhaps timely death of the much used but often criticised format.

So what is happening with the new Windows update?



Similar to Apple, Microsoft appear to be dumping plug-ins contained within their Internet explorer 10 browser and the new “metro” style Windows 8 interface.

Windows 8 aims to be the all-in-one operating system for smartphones/tablets and PC’s.

The change is however quite intriguing and will mean that you will still be able to access content that needs plug-ins but users will have to revert back to the older desktop version to use them. So Windows 8 users who want to stick in the modern “metro” style interface will not be able to get Flash content on the plug-in free operating system…or is it that simple?

So what will provide the new user experience that so many people know and love if flash is to be dumped?…HTML5 to the rescue.

Yes for once Microsoft appear to be taking a leaf out of trend leaders books and not dragging their heels with new technology that is designed to enhance and speed up life for users of the internet.

Dean Hachamovtich has started in a Microsoft blog:

“For the web to move forward and for consumers to get the most out of touch-first browsing, the Metro style browser in Windows 8 is as HTML5-only as possible, and plug-in free, the experience that plug-ins provide today is not a good match with Metro style browsing and the modern HTML5 web.”

HTML 5 offered as a result of Apples precedent:

With many video hosting sites now offering an HTML 5 version of their video as a reaction to Apples refusal to budge on the Flash issue.
Microsoft has done research of its own and found that of the top 97,000 sites globally, 62% already offer a HTML5 version already.

So what happens if you visit a site that does not offer a HTML5 alternative?

Essentially it looks like you will be given an option to “Use Desktop View” and this will take you back to the traditional desktop so you can carry on and view as you would using Windows 7 etc.

Where does this leave Silverlight – Microsoft Flash competitor’s?

With silverlight being a tool/framework that could still be used by developers, will they incorporate this into their O/S?

I actually do not know the answer here but will be keeping a close ear to the ground on developments.

Will they eventually just build flash into their browser like Google?

It is unclear whether Microsoft have any plans to slightly mislead people by building the Flash application into their browser and thus avoid the term “plugin” as Google do with Chrome, but one of the other interesting areas is that they have “kind of” stated that they will support add-ons; those third party applications that can make the user experience more tailored to the individual….but only on the desktop version…

Steven Sinofksy, president of Windows and Windows Live has said:

“In Windows 8, IE 10 is available as a Metro style app and as a desktop app. The desktop app continues to fully support all plug-ins and extensions.”

So there is some confusion if there will be an add-on supported Metro interface, though it appears only the desktop version/option looks probable from the above words.

All these changes look likely to go some way to improving the speed and perhaps the security of the Microsoft browser and operating systems, something that they have seriously suffered with over many years.

Adobe to suffer?

If the metro style interface is shown as the default medium to interact using Windows 8, then Adobe could be in serious trouble in relation to Flash.

Do you think this move by Microsoft will be the nail in the coffin for flash as we know it and if so do you think it is deserved? Or do you think Microsoft will renege on their slightly unclear statements and incorporate flash into their browser, carrying on it’s large scale use and lifespan?

Anthony Munns]]> https://www.mobileinquirer.com/2011/windows-8-kills-off-flash-for-good/feed/ 1 https://www.mobileinquirer.com/2011/flash-on-the-iphone-at-last/ https://www.mobileinquirer.com/2011/flash-on-the-iphone-at-last/#respond Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:43:00 +0000 http://www.mobileinquirer.com/?p=575 Adobe Flash on iPhone

With the arrival of Adobe media server 4.5, the team behind the Adobe creative suite has seemingly bowed to pressure from Apple.

I examine why this has happened and what it will mean for Apple and other manufacturers who already use the Flash framework to display content on their mobile devices.

The History behind a lack of support for Flash on Apple devices:

Apple had claimed that the flash video format was too processor hungry and did not make use of hardware acceleration. For this reason they have chosen to not support the widely used format at all on their mobile devices such as iPad and iPhone.

Since Flash 10.1 Adobe have made use of hardware acceleration but Apple have continued their stance of not supporting it natively.

Adobe pander to Apple – Will Google and Microsoft be happy?

While Apple are still not budging in their overall stance, Adobe must be concerned that so much content is being watched via a totally different player than their own highly successful, dominant force on traditional web browsers, desktops, Android and Windows based devices.

New way of delivery patches the issue for now:



Because Adobe do not want to miss out on the traffic that Apple devices obviously get, they have worked to provide a means of delivering Flash based video by detecting the device and then in Apples case, streaming that content in a format that Apple devices support…sneaky and great for Apple users, as they can now benefit from having flash playback minus the draining of processor and battery power when using Flash as a normal player as is currently the case for Android and Windows based devices.

Even though flash claim to have improved the hardware issue in version 10.1/10.2, Apple seem not interested in allowing Flash to work natively.

This new solution to the old video format war between the two giants is welcome news to Apple users but will no doubt throw into question why other O/S’s and manufacturers are supporting Flash natively when there are still issues around its power consumption which ultimately leads people to negatively comment on a devices battery life.

I for one am not convinced that Flash is so power intensive that it is of any real concern to most users, though maybe the updated version truly is improved as Adobe claim and utilises hardware acceleration more efficiently. I have a Samsung S2 and the battery life is dire on it I have to say, but I have not noticed that using Flash for video playback has really affected my battery life to such an extent where I would only sparingly watch video in the future in order to mitigate the effects Apple claim occur from using Flash.

What Apple want Apple get:

It seems that Apple just can not lose right now, they are very much on the crest of a massive wave, taking the tech World by storm. The Germans are bowing down to their pressure over the Samsung range of devices, and now Adobe are working solutions to fit around Apple’s own stance against Adobe’s own technology.

I have always been very annoyed that Apple stuck their neck’s out and were so stubborn with Adobe over flash. It was actually the main reason I was open minded to other devices rather than the iPhone I obtained just after they came out. Put simply, I missed Flash for various areas such as interactivity online and obviously video. The lack of support hampered my experience and must have lost Apple quite a few sales. So, lucky for them that Adobe have seemingly pandered to their whims, though it appears that this will only be for flash video playback and not full flash functionality as many would like to see.

What next for Apple I wonder?

Anthony Munns]]> https://www.mobileinquirer.com/2011/flash-on-the-iphone-at-last/feed/ 0