Flash 10 already supports HD video on the desktop, but 10.1 -- announced this week at Adobe's MAX conference in Los Angeles -- is being billed the first to really reap the full benefits of the
Open Screen Project by unifying feature sets across a wide variety of platforms on the desktop, the laptop, and the pocket. As usual, Windows, Mac, and Linux will all get hooked up with the latest release, but
public betas of 10.1 for Windows Mobile and webOS will be hitting before the end of the year as well followed by Android and Symbian in "early" 2010. RIM's also gotten official with its
rumored membership in the Open Screen Project, though the lack of a timeline for 10.1 support in BlackBerry OS is a stark reminder of the long technical road that lies ahead for Waterloo as it tries to match the smartphone competition tit-for-tat in the multimedia space. At the end of the day, mobile Flash means nothing without the horsepower to properly drive it, so let's hope that
Tegra,
Snapdragon, and next-generation architectures like
OMAP4 start to come on board en masse just as these builds come out of beta.
Speaking of fast chipsets, the other big news out of the show is that Flash 10.1 will take advantage of GPU acceleration on a number of key mobile platforms, including both nVidia's Tegra and Qualcomm's Snapdragon alongside
ION for smooth (well, theoretically smooth) 720p and 1080p video on the latest generation of netbooks and smartbooks.
Update: Added video of the Palm Pre running three instances of Flash in parallel after the break.
Read - Flash 10.1 announcement
Read - RIM joins the OSP
posted Oct 5th 2009 1:31AM
wow.... beta by the end of this year for webos. woot! +1!
^5 :D
Forget that.
Imagine GPU acceleration via Tegra on the Zune HD or Snapdragon on the HTC Leo (HD2).
@Windowsftw
wow your pockets must be huge!
Can we finally expect 64-bit support in Windows?
Also, fingers crossed for a Mac version that does not suck.
On the desktops obviously!
Hoping that efficiency from developing mobile versions goes back into desktop versions.
Because you touch yourself at night, you iDouche
Does this mean you can watch Hulu on the Palm Pre when Flash 10.1 releases? Oh lord let it be!
This is SO win!!
\(^_^)/
As good as having Flash would be on a smart phone, better news to me would be all major video websites supporting HTML 5 Video. This way we can start ditching plugins for Silverlight and Flash, Flash of course being the cause of 95% of crashes (I think that was an Engadget article actually). Furthermore, I see how processor intensive Flash is on my old 3 yo Thinkpad, I wonder how a battery on a smart phone will handle this? HTML 5 Video is no where near as bloated and processor intensive, and battery draining.
Hahaha... 'except iPhone' is a top trend on Twitter...
@ WindowsFTW: I used to think that a smaller screen bezel was better, but I actually think a little extra bezel helps with cases, especially on phones that have virtual keyboards. If the edge of the screen is too close to the case, it can make letters on the edges of the keyboard difficult to hit.
@patrick
Flash crashes my firefox instances all the time. Unfortunately its a flash chatroom though, so HTML video won't fix the problem :\
Oh great, more crappy, slow flash content. Just what I need on my phone.
Flash is a processor and memory hog that doesn't belong on some marginally-powered smartphone. Avoid it if at all possible. HTML 5 is the way to go. I'm not a programmer, I'm only looking at it from a user's standpoint. Just because Adobe wants people to support its standard, it doesn't make it any better. Fine if you want to run Flash on desktops, but mobile phones shouldn't be burdened with it at this point until battery technology improves.
As long as iPhone sales aren't impacted by not supporting Flash, Apple needn't be concerned. Adobe will get it's way, but we'll see if all the mobile platforms that support Flash don't end up choking on it.
The video above seems more like a Pre marketing video rather than Adobe flash capability on mobile phone.
O no... what will people bitch about now????
Will this bring flash to my iPhone 3GS sooner?
They said smartphones.
lol @ CT A
Zing !
Not to the iPhone 3GS, but to the iPhone 3GF, which Steve Jobs will unveil in June. It's just like the 3GS but a little faster and can play Flash.
Because you can use Flash on existing iPhones, just like you can't use Voice Command on the iPhone 3G...
snap!
You'll likely never get flash because then you could play online games, which would cut into Apple's profits from redistributing games. Apple wants to control everything, and actually giving you "The Whole Internet" is a scary prospect for them.
Apple wants to change the internet themselves so they don't have to pay Adobe for a license. Hadn't flash turned into the biggest web format for video instead of quicktime, we would already have flash since day one.
The problem of quicktime is that it's just popular because it's Apple's format, not because it's any good. Most .mov videos take forever to finish even on 10 Mbps lines and even then most web developers have trouble embedding them to their pages and take you out to a blank page.
If some one can merge webOS's version with a jailbroken iPhone... I'm in for an iphone. If not, well I'll be waitin' to see what phone is after the pixi, or maybe go with something like the acerA1... i just don't want a winmo 6.5, I hope 7 will be nice... i am enjoying windows 7 so if winmo 7 could be good... =D
Sux, I've got a symbian phone right now, I was hopin' the beta came out soon for it.
Actually they specifically confirmed that it's NOT coming to the iPhone if things remain as they are now. The way I see it, if this becomes a big deal and people start vocally complaining about it's absence, or even worse (for Apple), start moving back to other platforms, Apple will be forced to make it possible. Adobe made it clear that it was only because of Apple's own restrictions that they couldn't make it work. Can someone (who actually knows what they're talking about) explain this a little better? I was under the impression that 3.0 made it possible for devs to access all the hardware and make it far easier to develop for. What's unique about the iPhone's platform and it's restrictions that makes it impossible for Flash to be ported over to it?
http://gizmodo.com/5374115/flash-101-full-flash-for-everyone-but-iphone-actually-playable-hd-vids
Whether you hate the iPhone or not, you can't argue with it's 40%+ market share in mobile web use. I know most of you are completely out of touch with reality and have deeply seeded emotional connections with your favorite mobile OS, so much so that you can't even have a rational conversation about the subject, but I hope you have enough synapses left to understand why it would benefit every mobile web user if a standard was available that every OS was compatible with so devs could focus on features and usability instead of worrying about, and wasting time and resources, on compatibility. Until that standard arrives, we're all going to suffer.
from adobe's page:
Adobe needs full support from Apple beyond what is available through the SDK to enable Web browsing of Flash-based content on the iPhone. While we have been working hard to make the browser plug-in available, without increased co-operation from Apple, it will not be possible.
looks like iphone users are fucked by apple.
Jesus, enough immature posts here. A little clarity:
Yes, it is Apple's fault that Flash is not possible on the iPhone - they specifically forbid pretty much any form of runtime environment, whether it's Flash, Java, .Net, or emulators. There are several reasons (whether you agree with them is your business):
1) Poor performance. Do remember that the original iPhone is still fully supported - unless it requires something only present on newer hardware (like the compass), any app will run on any iPhone. The original iPhone was quite a bit slower, and had half the memory of current models. Obviously, Apple could draw a line in the sand (and probably will at some point), but so far they've taken care to keep the platform a single coherent one.
2) Control. Yes, there's no doubt that Apple wants to control the platform, and money is definitely part of it. However, Apple also has a lot invested in providing a different, generally higher quality platform. Think back on what "mobile apps" were like two years ago (generally Java midlets) and look at today. I'd say the Apple approach has definitely shown that encouraging a native platform has worked out well.
3) Flash on Mac OS X. Adobe has not done themselves any favors here. Their Flash efforts have been abysmal, generally being a huge resource hog if not out and out crashing. If Adobe can't make things work on a dual-core 2Ghz+ machine, why should we trust them to magically get it right on an iPhone with 128-256MB of memory and a tiny mobile processor?
And as an aside, Quicktime itself is a lovely media framework, and supports far, far more than ".mov" files. MP4 and H.264 is still generally considered to be the highest quality format available. About the only thing Flash has going for it is ubiquity. And of course, Apple/Google forced Adobe to adopt H.264 in Flash, which further diminishes the need for it for most people. And flash websites? Gee, I wonder why the most popular addons for other browsers are Flash *blockers*. Yet people keep clamoring for it on their phones...
I guess then that means my iPhone doesn't have a screen... :)
@ Josuha
Flash NOT on the iPhone is about control and money pure and simple. If Apple was worried about flash performance, indeed a reasonable concern, they could have joined adobe's open screen project, as nearly every other phone maker did, and worked them to get the performance right. It is working on a pre in the video and understand that 3gs is faster than a pre no?
>Do remember that the original iPhone is still fully supported - unless it requires something only present on newer hardware
Wrong. Voice control is not supported on the original iPhone for no discernible reason. (Don't say performance, I have an ancient SE phone that has it and there are 3rd apps that do it.)
>Gee, I wonder why the most popular addons for other browsers are Flash *blockers*.
Yes flash is used for both good and bad things but blockers make it easy to turn flash on or off. You know, you have a choice, something apple would like to eliminate.
"you can't argue with it's 40%+ market share in mobile web use."
Yes I can since they don't actually have that. You shouldn't really take US centric sources like AdMob as gospel when even they admit that it's not representative.
I mean they show the N70 having more share than the N95 FFS!
its a bit sad that people don't understand apple pushing for a completely open internet with standards, and just use it as an excuse to mock the iphone, flash was simply a convenient stop gap for can mostly now be done with standards, so lets do it.
If and if Steve Jobs allows flash player 10 on the Iphone, it will be the first time someone will see "Surf control: access denied." Regardless if it does come to the iphone, not being able to multi-task makes it kinda useless.
The only FLASH you may be getting may be one for the CAMERA... Flash or no Flash we windows kids can enjoy the joy of SkyFire Browser to access all that Flash content.
i feel my first "low rank" coming on with this...but why does everyone bust into huge arguments over apples marketing and software releases anymore? we see how they operate, its no mystery anymore. however while they do operate in a very questionable manner the iphone is still a magnificent device and that is not arguable. can it be better? well yes of course it can be better...and maybe the release of flash 10.1 on other devices will help evolve the iphone beyond apples current roadmap.
i think the best part about this release from adobe is long-term benefits. while a good portion of phones already on the market are going to benefit immensely from this there are going to be even more down the road which will be made with hardware specifically to utilize full flash and not bog down the phone.
and while this does raise the bar for every other non-iphone on the market, these devices are going to get some serious attention and probably more support here in the states opening the eyes of the 'average consumer.' and if that really happens apple could make some serious changes on their 1 product and therefore everyone wins! this is a huge advancement for everyone all around.
now i will go back to my cat stevens records while the negative comments fly.
addition to my post...
and i plan on snagging the S60 beta for my e71 the second it becomes available
"Apple approach has definitely shown that encouraging a native platform has worked out well."
In the desktop PC apps world, the trend is to move towards the Web cloud and the browser as the platform; we want to push for platform-independence, "write once, run everywhere". While, in the mobile apps world, Apple is encouraging *native* applications. We have Facebook for iPhone, Facebook for WebOS, Facebook for Symbian, etc. Desktop apps and mobile apps moving in totally opposite directions. Amazing and sad.
grr..
I hate that flash has become the industry standard. I mean - sure, I works gretat on most platforms, but it is soo much more cpu intensive than most other formats, and doesn't deliver the same quality (for example - compare a youtube hd stream to a wmv or divx one..).
please forgive my horrible spelling...
and here's the proof that I didnt read the last paragraph: YAY gpu acceleration - now it might be a little better quality and less cpu intensive.
well, they were losing a lot of market by that same problem. Finally are delivering what flash was supposed to be since Flash 5.
YouTube HD is actually an mp4 in h.264, the best compression format around today. You can't just compare it to DIVX etc WITHOUT mentioning bitrates and specifics.
Yeah well till HTML5 is standard and people stop squabbling over which codecs to use for video you don't have a choice.
That is actually one of the reasons for Apple not wanting Flash on the iPhone. The internet is key to smart electronic devices (laptops, desktops, smartphones, everything). Apple don't want to give more power over that system to Adobe. That's why they're pushing HTML5, which is a real flash competitor and an entirely open standard.
People say that they don't want to relinquish control over games distribution, and there is probably an element of truth in that, but Apple is pushing HTML5 and new standards like webGL. That makes it seem that Apple ARE willing to loosen their hold on games distribution to some extent, but are concerned about doing that in a standards-compliant way.
Proprietary technologies such as DirectX and IE's own unique interpretation of web standards have hurt Apple - there aren't many proper native games for OSX, and it was hard to sell Macs when they didn't display sites designed for IE properly. They're still a relatively vulnerable player in this space, so it's no wonder they want it done with standards that guarantee they won't be at a disadvantage. If Adobe releases a poor flash player for OSX, it could bring the user's whole internet experience down with it; that means Apple's product experiences depend on Adobe, which they obviously are uncomfortable with.
I'm sorry to bring in Apple to your post (especially if lots of fanboys trash it), but I felt it was appropriate: they share your despair that flash has become so prevalent. It's a hard bullet to bite (no flash on the iPhone), and maybe Apple don't have the bottle to keep that stance, but they do seem to be trying to take a stand against flash.
@KarlW, you are right, of course. Except for I assume meaning ActiveX (proprietary component architecture misguidedly adapted to the web in the 90's), not DirectX (direct 3d hardware api)--if you did mean DirectX, then you are missing some fundamentals when it comes to programming and games development. However, Apple is barking up a dead tree. Yes, HTML5 will support most everything that Flash does--just look at the Pre itself for proof that modern HTML can be an amazingly powerful development environment. However, unless things change, it'll have one MAJOR roadblock: no DRM-encoded video. Face it, there aren't too many people that care about Flash because they can't play their favorite browser game and certainly no one cares about missing out on those annoying intro sequences or "interactive" advertisements. They care about Flash because they can't play Hulu or any other embedded video content. And most video providers won't allow their content to be spit over the internet in unprotected H.264 wrappers. If HTML5 incorporates some way of managing DRM, something that both Flash and Silverlight support well, then it'll be a viable (and more desirable) alternative. Until then, it'll still need to be there.
@M C, glad you caught your own snafu. Hardware acceleration is the key to Flash performance. 10.1 should be called FlashHD 1.0 or something. It is THAT significant.
@KarlW
Except Adobe already has that control and iPhone users are missing out. Instead, it's not about Apple giving more control to Adobe, but Apple wanting more control for themselves to get people locked into THEIR platform so iPhone users get a decent experience.
Mind you, as much as Apple wants Adobe to piss in their pants, the fact that Flash will be on every other smartphone BESIDES the iPhone is plenty of pressure enough. Apple as a company has been wrong before. It just takes a few years for them to get their heads out of their ass to realize it (i.e. Jobs 3 years ago said that having an FM receiver in an MP3 player was a stupid idea! Go check out the new nanos today to see they are running out of real features to add to the device)
GPU acceleration? about damn time.
im hoping this comes over to the Zune HD soon. GPU acceleration and all
Hey look! a Pokemon on meth!!!