Adobe To Develop Flash for the iPhone

News Type: Event — Seeded on Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:44 AM EDT

Article Source: Mashable!

technology, iphone, flash, adobe, apple-inc, we-try-harder

Steve Jobs wasn't all that enthusiastic about Adobe's Flash on the iPhone, and what does that mean? It apparently means Adobe will just have to try harder, and that's exactly what they're doing. According to WSJ, Adobe will develop Flash for the iPhone. Yup, they're not going to use the existing Flash Lite; they're going to develop a new version (or tweak the existing one) especially for the iPhone.

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{"commentId":1596073,"authorDomain":"marilynl"}

Marilyn L

Good news for iPhone owners. I wonder if this will also lead to better support of Flash on Safari... any ideas on that?

{"commentId":1596073,"threadId":"236903","contentId":"1376775","authorDomain":"marilynl"}

1 vote

#1 - Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:45 AM EDT

{"commentId":1596137,"authorDomain":"harshpaul"}

harshpaul

they're going to develop a new version (or tweak the existing one) especially for the iPhone

I had read somewhere that Jobs wasn't all that enthusiastic about Flash in the iPhones because he thought the quality it offered was not good enough. With Adobe tweaking up flash, Steve Jobs may relent.

{"commentId":1596137,"threadId":"236903","contentId":"1376775","authorDomain":"harshpaul"}

1 vote

#2 - Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:58 AM EDT

{"commentId":1596374,"authorDomain":"leveldown"}

leveldown

Unfortunately for Adobe, along with Sun, they have not read the terms of the iPhone SDK properly otherwise they would realise that you are not allowed to run interpreted code on the iPhone, such as Flash or Java.

{"commentId":1596374,"threadId":"236903","contentId":"1376775","authorDomain":"leveldown"}

1 vote

#3 - Wed Mar 19, 2008 11:51 AM EDT

{"commentId":1596969,"authorDomain":"kirklennon"}

Kirk Lennon

They've gone as crazy as Sun.

Here's what Adobe's CEO, Shantanu Narayen had said about the Flash on the iPhone (surprising Adobe spokesman Ryan Stewart, who had no idea about this, in the process):

"We believe Flash is synonymous with the Internet experience, and we are committed to bringing Flash to the iPhone…We have evaluated (the software developer tools) and we think we can develop an iPhone Flash player ourselves."

Several problems: Flash is not synonymous with the Internet experience. I can use my iPhone all day and never once miss having a Flash version of an ad. Beyond those, I don't really come across much Flash. The SDK does not do anything to help Adobe add Flash to the iPhone. Flash is useful only insofar is it works in the browser; Apple has not opened up Safari to plug-ins.

Moreover, I see no compelling reason why Apple would ever want to allow Flash on the iPhone. The only compelling application for Flash on a mobile device is in video. There is currently no de facto standard for mobile web video, and I suspect Apple would very much like to establish H.264 as that standard. This is their opportunity to do so, and Flash video is nothing more than a competitor--one that Apple can crush by simply not allowing it on the iPhone.

{"commentId":1596969,"threadId":"236903","contentId":"1376775","authorDomain":"kirklennon"}

1 vote

#4 - Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:51 PM EDT

{"commentId":1601232,"authorDomain":"faruk"}

Faruk Ates

The only thing in Flash I can imagine I would miss is Facebook Scrabulous. Oh woe is me…

I can live without it. :-)

{"commentId":1601232,"threadId":"236903","contentId":"1376775","authorDomain":"faruk"}

1 vote

#4.1 - Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:41 PM EDT

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Adobe realizes SDK not enough for Flash on iPhone	CNET News.com	Thu Mar 20	3
Microsoft Licenses Adobe Mobile Software	Associated Press	Mon Mar 17	0
Adobe begins work on Flash player for iPhone	Apple Insider	Wed Mar 19	1
Thousands of new iPhone programs? Maybe so	Associated Press	Thu Mar 13	0

MARILYN L

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Adobe To Develop Flash for the iPhone

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