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Android 3.1 gets namechecked by Adobe Flash Player 10.2, will be required to enjoy accelerated 720p video
Remember how Adobe said Flash 10.2 wasn't living up to its full hardware-accelerated potential on Honeycomb thus far? Well, it seems the company's found a solution by the name of Android 3.1. We've been inundated with tips (and have confirmed with Adobe) that there's a sticky-sweet new build of Android on the way for the recent crop of slates that OEMs and carriers are rolling out, and that -- just like last time -- you'll need that software to take advantage of all the hardware rendering and compositing that your Tegra 2 silicon can afford. With any luck, 720p playback won't burn our eyeballs this time around. By the way, the Android Market item above was updated this morning to read "requires an upcoming release of Android 3" rather than "Android 3.1," but it's unclear whether the original number was inaccurate or whether Adobe got in trouble. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Safari tip: Force HTML5 video to open instead of Flash
As more people get fed up with the poor performance and security flaws of Adobe's Flash Player, they are uninstalling the Flash plug-in from their computers. The problem is that even if a site offers up HTML5 video as an alternative to Flash, trying to get to it from Safari on a Mac will pop up the little blue LEGO block. Mac users can now take advantage of the fact that Mobile Safari in iOS doesn't support Flash in any way, by changing the desktop user agent. A browser feature that was first widely used to get websites to serve up non-standard HTML optimized for Internet Explorer, Mac Safari 5 users can change their user agent settings by enabling the Developer menu through Preferences > Advanced. From the Developer menu, the user agent can be changed so that the browser looks like Mobile Safari 3.2.2 on the iPad, which will force sites to feed HTML5 video streams if they are available. There are, of course, some caveats. Unlike some other browsers, changing the Safari user agent only persists for the current browser window instance. Additional browser windows or restarting the browser gets you back to the original agent. John Gruber of Daring Fireball, who originally figured all of this out, provides a Terminal command that will permanently change the user agent, but since that can break other functionality, the temporary route is recommended. For sites that only serve Flash video, users can still go Flash-free in Safari by opening the site in Google Chrome, which features its own built-in Flash player. [via Mac OS X Hints]
Skyfire browser for iPhone hits the App Store, ready to play your Flash videos (update)
It's been over two months since it was first submitted for approval, but the Skyfire 2.0 web browser for iPhone is now finally, officially available for download, complete with the ability to play Flash videos... sort of. To get around the iPhone's Flash restrictions, the browser actually transcodes the video in a way that lets the phone only see HTML5, and it compresses all videos by about 75 percent in the process to ease bandwidth concerns. Of course, that workaround also means that Flash video is the only type of Flash that the browser supports, and the company also notes that Hulu is currently blocked but that "scores of other premium sites are supported." Skyfire also points out that the browser has more than just Flash going for it -- it's a full-fledged Webkit browser in its own right, and packs a few other tricks like easy sharing to Facebook and Twitter, and a so-called Facebook Quickview mode. Head on past the break for a quick video overview, and hit up the App Store now to grab the browser for the "special early adopter price" of $2.99. Update: Skyfire is now "sold out." What could that possibly mean? Find out right here.
Skyfire submits iPhone browser for App Store approval, we wait for the Flash to hit the fan
There was a time when Skyfire on Windows Mobile meant full Flash all the time. The 2.0 version on Android reigned that in a bit, really only supporting Flash video and little else, something Android 2.2 users no longer need to worry about. iOS users, however, do still spend their days ruing websites with such content, and so that's the market Skyfire is targeting next. The company has submitted a version of the browser for App Store approval, transcoding Flash video such that the phone only sees HTML5, with content coming in over H.264 adaptive streaming. As such, video is said to be compressed an average of 75 percent, in theory allaying any concerns about this thing being a bandwidth hog. In other words: there's no reason for this to not be approved, right? Right! However, something tells us things may not be so easy... Update: Now with video -- watch the Skyfire crew coerce a poor iPhone into playing Comedy Central content right after the break.
Opera wades into Flash debate, says it 'makes very little sense' for video
Opera Software already caused quite a stir with the release of the iPhone version of its browser, and it looks like it's now starting to make itself heard in one of the biggest browser-related debates going. Speaking with Tech Radar, Opera's product analyst Phillip Grønvold started out with something of a diplomatic approach by saying that "today's internet content is dependent on Flash" and "if you remove Flash you do not have today's internet," and for that reason Opera needs to support Flash. Things get a bit more interesting from there, however, with Grønvold stating that while Flash has its place for things like dynamic content, it "makes very little sense" as a video container given the impact on processor and battery usage, adding that "you can cook an egg on [devices] once you start running Flash on them and there's a reason for that." Fried eggs, potatoes -- these browsers sure are making us hungry.
Macworld 2010: Get an education with the DriveSavers Hard Drive Disk-aster Simulator
DriveSavers has been the go-to company for data recovery since 1985, when I used to read about them in Apple ][ magazines. They have saved the bacon (and jobs) of many people over the ensuing years. When all else fails, DriveSavers can be counted on to retrieve your data -- whether it's on a hard drive, memory card, iPod, iPhone, or just about any type of storage media. It seems that their heart is in the right place; although seemingly not great for their business, they created the wonderful free DriveSavers Hard Drive Disk-aster Simulator app for the iPhone or iPod touch. The app teaches, in interactive fashion, how a hard disk works, and all the things that can crash a drive. It shows the inside of a hard disk where you can tap around to read descriptions of all the components. Next, using interactive animation, sound and vibration, you'll learn all the things that can crash a drive. You'll learn what happens during a clicker failure, seized motor, problems with spinning up and down, solid state drive failures (yes, they can fail too), contamination and head crashes. It's both entertaining and educational. There is also a section relating to protection strategies, which covers best practices, backup strategies, securing your data, and how serious a problem must be before you call DriveSavers. Knowledge is power, and I consider this critical information for any computer user. Another section shows you pictures of the clean room where all the data recovery gets done. DriveSavers employs the most advanced certified IS 5 (class 100) clean rooms in the industry and is authorized by all hard drive manufacturers to work on hard drives without voiding a warranty. If you don't have an iPhone or iPod touch, you can still learn everything in the app via a web-based Flash video. %Gallery-85751% We conducted an interview with Chris Bross from DriveSavers from the show floor. Chris talks about the philosophy behind DriveSavers. I found it interesting that there is a suicide prevention professional on staff to take call from clients on the verge of a nervous breakdown -- which is not an uncommon occurrence. Click on the Read More link to see the interview.
GPU-accelerated 720p Flash video gets demoed on a netbook (smoothly)
It's been a long wait since NVIDIA and Adobe announced their plans for GPU-accelerated Flash video back in January of this year, but it looks like the pair now finally have something to show for themselves. While it's not quite clear how official it is just yet, the folks at NotebookJournal have nonetheless published a video that shows 720p Flash video running smoothly on a netbook (an ION-powered HP Mini 311, to be specific). Unfortunately, it looks like we'll still have to wait until sometime in the first half of 2010 to see the technology become publicly available (at least if the slides in the video are any indication), but you can now check out the demo for yourself after the break. Just be sure to stick with it for a while or skip ahead to the 1:20 mark -- they show a non-accelerated video at the beginning for an all too painful comparison.[Via Liliputing]
Adobe, NVIDIA and Broadcom bringing GPU acceleration to Flash at long last
As part of the Open Screen Project, which should be getting Adobe Flash onto many new platforms, Adobe, NVIDIA and Broadcom are all hard at work getting GPU acceleration to do what it ought for Flash Player, with improvements in store for everything from Tegra MIDs to Broadcom Crystal HD netbooks (like HP's new Mini 110XP, pictured) to tablets and beyond. Of note is H.264 playback acceleration, which should at last make Hulu and YouTube bearable on netbooks and nettops -- a major shortcoming in the otherwise enticing form factors. Unfortunately, the most precise timeline we have on all this is from Broadcom, who says its Flash Player support will be available in the first half of 2010. We're also going to be bugging Adobe and Intel about when this functionality might hit mainstream Intel integrated chipsets as well, though at least Broadcom's Crystal HD accelerator can be added to some existing netbooks such as a PCI Express mini-card or ExpressCard 34 add-on. Perhaps we sound ungrateful, but this sort of acceleration for Flash -- the internet's most popular multimedia delivery method -- is long overdue, and we're not overly impressed with the idea of waiting until mid-2010 for it to happen.Read - Adobe and NVIDIARead - Adobe and Broadcom
