Intel, Adobe plan a chicken in every pot, Flash on every HDTV

Intel's been talking up the CE 3100 (née Canmore) processor for quite some time now, and with Adobe as its newest partner -- late again Yahoo? -- pushing HD Flash streams to Internet connected TV's and set-top boxes. Frankly, we've already gotten quite used to YouTube and other online video access in the living room, but with the first Flash Lite-enabled system-on-a-chip due by mid-2009 and everyone and their mom watching TV on Hulu this could be the push that takes online video to the TV mainstream. Still, Intel must know that only Flash support so 2008, we'll be expecting more widgets to come.

[Garst @ Jan 5th 2009 4:28AM]

Is the Flash software at least user-initiated upgradable? I wouldn't want to turn something like that on only to find out that it completely obsolete and can no longer watch PornTube...I mean, Hulu and YouTube.

[ethana2 @ Jan 5th 2009 4:48AM]

You uh.. I think you spelled that, erm, wrong.. I think.

[霽月瀛台 @ Jan 5th 2009 4:58AM]

HD Flash means what?
Higher pixel resolution but Lower level in image details?
I don't want to watch low detailed pictures.

[dikknights @ Jan 5th 2009 5:27AM]

Flash Support = access to nearly all streaming Video services. Its not about the quality you numbskull, but having said that BBC iPlayer looks remarkably good on my HDTV.

[Knifa @ Jan 5th 2009 5:25AM]

Who honestly sits and watches fucking YouTube on their HDTV? I don't get the purpose of any of this. Why does YouTube need to be seen as a feature in every media playing device?

[dikknights @ Jan 5th 2009 5:30AM]

Look!!! Its not just about YouTube for gawds sake....

[FILA @ Jan 5th 2009 5:31AM]

yes i agree wit you on that. theres nothin on you tube enough to actually get to comfortable on the couch to watch. i can see middle school girls doin this, cuz well there all whores, lmao.

all man i crack myself up

[Meridimus @ Jan 5th 2009 6:13AM]

YouTube just got a quality bump and aspect ration shift to widescreen, that's cool, but why can't we hide the bar at the bottom for true fullscreen viewing?

iPlayer is the best use of Flash video imho, they replicate double-click fullscreen and other features of desktop software — that's why I pay the license fee without actually having a TV —supporting the best broadcasting network in the world.

On a more relevant note, does this mean we can play JohnnyTwoShoes in HD?

[shanoboy @ Jan 5th 2009 11:18AM]

Have none of you heard of Fancast or Hulu? High quality, online video with very limited commercials? It's like having a Tivo with most of your favorite shows loaded up for you and instead of the usual 20 minutes per hour of commercials, you may have 5.

Forget youtube for this kind of application. They throw it in there because everybody knows what it is.

[Magallanes @ Jan 5th 2009 12:31PM]

there wasn't enough cats on HDTV, youtube can fill the gap.

[FILA @ Jan 5th 2009 5:29AM]

"everyone and their mom watching TV on Hulu"

i must of missed out on that vote, cuz uh, I dont. i might of came across it a few times but most of the times i forget about it

[Ethan @ Jan 5th 2009 5:46AM]

It needs flash? Just get hardware h.264 decoding!

[ah-palin @ Jan 5th 2009 5:59AM]

Canmore ? A bit of a prophetic name here ..it sure needs to "can more" [and not as in "canned" :-), but as in obama-ese "yes, we can"]

Intel has been struggling with making inroads into the tv/stb market - for a few reasons and one of the more important ones is the lack of a software power house (think ms - or even Linux, apple) and box-makers (think HP/Dell). Making a chip for a tv/stb - with a software vendor having ported one single software component onto the chip.. is one thing. Making / integrating *ALL* the software for these boxes is quite another. And doing all this while the external environment (broadcasters, MSO, telcos etc) is in seemingly constant transition, and not having a carrier brand is altogether a different ball game. (note that intel is not a CE brand)

So, in conclusion : Canmore can run Flash and Flashlite and OpenScreen and widgets of all kinds and makes. No doubt. But, so what ? Can it decode broadcast HDTV and display obligatory captions? Can it keep pace with the panel technologies or decode myriad DRM schemes? Can it reduce the blur of fast moving images and win the confidence of the major CE brands?

So, "can more" ? For sure, yes. The potential is there. But what it "can" do *now* is far from impressive.

[Bad Beaver @ Jan 5th 2009 6:11AM]

Hulu is that thingy that lets its content suppliers discriminate me for not being located in the US of A on a regular basis, right?

[TrashBat @ Jan 5th 2009 7:56AM]

Yup, that's the one

[Killer @ Jan 5th 2009 12:03PM]

The location restriction is the result of copyright law, not some arbitrary decision made by Hulu/NBC/Fox.

[Jagster @ Jan 5th 2009 8:28AM]

Great. I can't wait for our TV's to start crashing and restarting thanks to Flash. Maybe they should think about supporting Silverlight instead.

[Andir3.0 @ Jan 5th 2009 9:33AM]

Yeah, because Microsoft products never crash...

/sarcasm

[Jagster @ Jan 5th 2009 10:51AM]

I've yet to see Silverlight crash a browser. Not saying it never happens but Flash is notorious for crashing and has been for years no matter how many updates they put out. I'm almost sure that if it wasn't for Flash, crash-recovery in browsers would never have been a must-have feature.

And for what it's worth, you are correct, wholly-Microsoft software rarely crashes these days. Almost all software crashes affecting MS software is due to bad 3rd party plug-ins. That applies to the OS (bad non-ms certified drivers), Office (bad Outlook plug-ins, etc), and IE (buggy Flash usually). Heck, even the Zune bug a few days ago was due to, you guessed it, a buggy driver.

[Andir3.0 @ Jan 5th 2009 2:19PM]

I can't think of ANY instance when Flash crashed a browser on me... and I do eLearning development primarily in AS3 as well as embedded device training using WinCE and Flash Lite 2. Let me tell you, I've come up with some pretty complicated stuff (SCORM included) in order to properly communicate and interact with the user, SQL and the LMS. If you have a problem with Flash crashing IE, it's Microsoft's problem for allowing Flash to crash IE, not Adobe for actually crashing it. As an OS developer, Microsoft should have learned a long time ago that there will be bad code and they should have planned for it... in the OS and it's apps. You can only blame MS for granting system crashing access to drivers. If they didn't want IE crashing, they should be executing the plug-ins in sandbox environments and not allowing system level APIs like ActiveX.. They've gotten better with the newer OS's by restarting the device, but don't play the Microsoft is innocent card with me. I know better. They grant too much permission and you complain about a third party (ab)using it?

[Engrudget @ Jan 5th 2009 8:32AM]

Hulu? Atta boys Intel and Adobe. You know I prefer Hulu to, like downloading torrents and stuff. Wait, I don't.

[Jon Doe. @ Jan 5th 2009 9:10AM]

Yah because torrents are so much faster then watching something on Hulu...Oh wait, no they aren't.

[Jon Doe. @ Jan 5th 2009 9:09AM]

Screw the HDTV. How about flash for the G1. Half of the sites I want to access run on that POS called flash.

[h0mi @ Jan 5th 2009 10:42AM]

Just what I wanted, another set top box.

[Killer @ Jan 5th 2009 12:05PM]

This news makes me very glad I am a Flash developer. More work for me!!

[Jagster @ Jan 5th 2009 12:39PM]

Can you make Flash stop crashing or prevent it from hogging the CPU please.

[Killer @ Jan 5th 2009 12:58PM]

Sure I can, but I am only one guy. You need to file a bug report the legions of programmers who don't know WTF they are doing.

[rpa @ Jan 5th 2009 12:21PM]

They sure spent a lot of time and effort on the box's design.....reminds me of the 1200 baud modem I had 20 years ago.

[JohnnyDisco @ Jan 5th 2009 12:31PM]

"iPlayer is the best use of Flash video imho, they replicate double-click fullscreen and other features of desktop software — that's why I pay the license fee without actually having a TV —supporting the best broadcasting network in the world."

Are you aware that using iPlayer only and not having a TV means you do not pay a license fee? The fee is only required to playback or record live programming. iPlayer is FOC :-)

FYI The BBC is going to launch a Live service in the future and when they do, the license fee will be payable again.. Hope this helps save you some money whilst there is a credit crunch...

[Danny @ Jan 5th 2009 1:10PM]

"...Flash is so 2008..."

You're an idiot if you think Flash is somehow an inferior technology to HTML/JavaScript-based widgets like Yahoo. I'm glad to see "thick client" platforms like Flash on devices. This will lead to richer web experiences than just a browser. I think it'd be great to see Silverlight on devices like this too.

[blore40 @ Jan 6th 2009 4:03PM]

!!