Adobe brings AIR to Android, promises Flash 10.1 in the first half of the year
By Vlad Savov 
posted February 15th 2010 7:16AM
posted February 15th 2010 7:16AM
Convergence has always been a big theme in tech, and its focus at MWC this year seems to have landed firmly on procuring an application platform that is OS-agnostic. Earlier today, we heard of the big carrier cabal intent on slaying the beast that is multi-platform development through cooperation, but if you ask Adobe the answer is much simpler: just slap AIR on your phone. The company's grand vision of the future sees AIR as the facilitator of a "feature-rich environment for delivering rich applications outside the mobile browser and across multiple operating systems." If that sounds like your cup of tea, it's now available on Android and there are a number of cool demo videos at the DevNet link below. As to Flash Player 10.1, that's also heading to Android, to be completed within the first half of this year, while also including support for WebOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices. We all know who's missing from that party, but Reuters reports Adobe has expressed confidence that Apple will "eventually bow to market pressure" and join in on the fun as well. We shall see. Video of AIR apps running on the Droid awaits after the break. 
Flash rhymes with trash
nuff said
@FCells
hardly, it may be buggy but flash is the best option to go, even the video in this article is flash
@FCells Wow. Just wow. That's so insightful, and not to mention, poetic. You should be a freaking poet, you know that? And since your comment was so concise on such a complex topic, I assume you must be an expert. That makes me even more inclined to believe exactly what you said. Have you considered writing for engadget? They like knowledgable writers for their blog and you're apparently a poetic, expert critic. Bravo. Well done. I couldn't have said it better myself.
/s?
If Flash for Android is going to be like Flash on any Linux distro, no thanks no, Adobe. You can go back to your cave and stick your software right up your mammoth's nose.
@HarZens The only time I've had a problem with Flash on Linux is when it gets installed using the hack ndiswrapper. If you use the native beta 64-bit client on a 64-bit Linux, it's stable and fast.
Flash is nice, but it is a real pain when you have moderate internet speed or power.
My favorite plug-in is ClickToFlash, which makes my (especially 3G) surfing a lot faster by allowing not to load flash content.
Would anyone think that the Mozilla team shares the same "evil" alleged agenda as Apple?
They just disabled all plug-ins in Firefox for Mobile "due to performance problems using Adobe Flash within Firefox on many websites, especially those with multiple plug-ins on them" as seen on the release notes here http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/mobile/1.0/releasenotes/
Apple has its interest in open industry standards (such as MPEG 4, H264, HTML) and has played a big role in their establishment (H264 is everywhere now, and they hugely profit of it) plus they do not want a sheety but Flash-enabled experience on their devices, because that would damage the value attached to these devices.
If anyone would remember, there once was a standard for web pages, that was IE 6. And many sites did not work well without IE6
I am very happy that some pushed the open standards against IE6.
We now have a healthy competition for browsers, andI have not found a site that would not work well with Firefox in the lest 2 or 3 years.
What would have happened if everyone had pushed to further support yesterday's Flash, the IE6 standard?
@jeromec Would anyone think that the Mozilla team shares the same "evil" alleged agenda as Apple?
No, because their agenda is to give people an option and providing information. From the article you post "We plan to provide a browser add-on that will enable you to selectively enable plugins on certain sites, because some sites, like YouTube, work well." I think most people want an "option" not an always on (though it would be the best to have the option at launch).
Apple just calls Adobe lazy and thinks that's good enough for the fanboys.
@jeromec The problem with Apple is their double standards. When it comes to Flash they scream about industry standards and then they completely ignore other standards like HDMI.
H264 is not an open industry standard. It is an industry standard but with out the openness. You still have to pay royalties for using it.
I'm hoping for a open alternative to h264 so that we don't have the same problems that we had with mp3.
@juanvaldez
My point is that others than Apple agree that Flash degrades the surfing experience on a mobile device. And I do agree with them.
If people prefer to be able to choose Flash, let them go and buy one of the gazillion models of phones supporting Flash (there were already many before the iPhone existed ; the problem is : nobody used these phones on the internet because it sucked).
That's what free market is for.
I am happy to have a phone that works.
Yeah, it is sometimes annoying when a site does not work (and reminds me of the Mac on the Web a few years ago).But is is a lot less annoying than all the other phones I've had. And I believe that is because Apple puts an awful lot of attention in making the best possible experience.
And that happens to be very different from Flash-enabled.
And last time I checked it had YouTube too, because YouTube moved to more open standards ;-).
@johnnyLong
I am happy to hear that by some kind of magicI have an AppleTV connected to my Sony HDTV via an HDMI cable.
I also have a Mac mini connected to the same Sony HDTV via HDMI too, which requires a 15$ adapter (which is less expensive than a HDMI cable).
I believe that is possible because HDMI is a standard.
There are indeed some discussions about what open means -see here about H264 http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=96059
As for mp3, I surely hope we get more standards with the same set of awful drawbacks for the consumer. Seems pretty successful to me, isn't it ;-)
@jeromec
and Vimeo too now...
Wow! Taking Adobe long enough to get this out!
why would apple "bow to pressure" if they make more money off of not supplying iphone/ipad users with open streaming video from the gamut but instead have people pay for it in itunes.
Looks pretty good. Being able to port apps easily to multiple platforms ultimately benefits both the consumers and the developers, as long as the speed and flexibility is there.
Sadly, I can imagine Apple not liking it though. I think they have a lot of developers creating apps for the Apple app store whilst other app stores are a bit empty, and if it was easy to pump the same apps straight into other app stores Apple would lose its lead. I am pretty sure they will do everything they can to criticise this and block its appearance on the iPhone / iPad.
@thunderbollock
I also think that if a developer has the choice of developing an app for the iPhone or a single other device, they would probably favour the iPhone. However, if the choice is (due to budget) developing for the iPhone or developing for *several* other popular platforms that run Air, I think many developers would choose the latter.
"while also including support for WebOS, Symbian, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices."
Didn't engadget have an article yesterday about flash NEVER coming to windows mobile? You guys are a real trip.
Awesome news
SWEET EAT THIS APPLE
Flash, okay. But AIR just pushes Flash, and I'd rather have it the Google/Apple way.
Why use Air, when your Android has a perfect HTML5 browser with SSB functionality?
We've already seen Offline Gmail, Offline Google Docs, etc. AIR doesn't add anything interesting, except for perhaps Flash 3D but Android will support WebGL soon...
This guys at Adobe are such a Lame Losers. Although Apple Kicks their Ash , they have an Apple computer on their Demonstration. They Can't play hardball
Just don't understand why Apple wants to fight the market trying to make things on their own and indicate where to go when everybody knows this what is going on is the right way for the mobile market. No wonder why everyone wants to jailbreak their phones and so on. Still some guys say that Safari is the best mobile browser when one cannot see youtube and other video from their browser... ridiculous.
You think Flash is a battery drain on your laptop? Just wait'll you see how awful it is on mobile! DO. NOT. WANT.
God why. Please no. Flash is the new ie6
Let's not forget why Apple truly doesn't want flash on their device. Imagine a world where a Phone OS no longer matters. Developers program something in a univeral language that can go on any phone.
That is what Steve is thinking about. I assure you that is his real reason.
@ThreadAbort If Adobe would come out with a proper version optimized for Mac OS X and iPhone OS, Apple would begrudgingly let users install Flash. We're still going to HTML5 as the key standard to replace flash, ask any web developer about it.
Furthermore if Apple was afraid that they would lose revenue to Flash, that's really silly if they think that. People are just tired of this proprietary standard. If Apple was so concerned about keeping Flash off the platform as a counter to App Store sales, why are they pushing HTML5 which is even more powerful and can far undercut their App Store sales to a much greater degree?
"If that sounds like your cup of tea, it's now available on Android and there are a number of cool demo videos at the DevNet link below."
is it? where not in the market, no link here... so it's not available... o well the first half of 2010 is almost half over so where is flash player? or do they mean the first half of 2012?
Where can I download air for my droid?
Microsoft already offers 1080p on Xbox Live. It will sure require more bandwidth. Here is a comparison between 720p and 1080p. See the improvements: http://www.thehdstandard.com/video-broadcasting-news/netflix-to-add-1080p-support-next-year/
Catalin
Professional Streaming Consultant
Adobe is never going to get Flash working on my Nexus One. I'm more convinced everyday that they are nothing but a bunch of lying, snakeoil peddling, vapourware pushers.
They promise, talk, talk, demo and talk some more but NEVER DELIVER ON ANYTHING!