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Adobe, ARM Team Up To Bring Flash To ARM-Powered Handsets, Still Hope For iPhone?

Submitted by Edward Kirk on November 17, 2008 - 1:57pm.
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Adobe and ARM have both announced that they will be working together to optimize Adobe Flash Player 10 and Adobe AIR to work on ARM-powered devices. The optimization specifically focuses on the ARM11 family, which just so happens to be what powers our iPhones.

The collaboration is expected to accelerate mobile graphics and video capabilities on ARM platforms to bring rich Internet applications and Web services to mobile devices and consumer electronics worldwide.

They hope to be finished by the second half of 2009. They didn't specifically mention the iPhone, but PC Magazine notes that "devices with at least 200 MHz processors, more than around 16 Mbytes of RAM and a 'completely capable [Web] browser' will be able to render Web-based Flash content." This description fits the iPhone perfectly.

There's a good chance that this could finally mean flash for the iPhone is on the way. The main reason Steve Jobs gave for the lack of Flash support was that it wouldn't run properly on it. If this optimization effort pays off, then it could mean Flash web apps and video are in the foreseeable future.

[via PC Magazine]

yawn...

Submitted by madscientest on November 17, 2008 - 2:21pm.
I personally dont want adobe on the iphone, they screw up enough, that makes me stay away from adobe. Im kinda tired of all the adobe programs. some are useful like photoshop but come on adobe, how many programs do you need? I believe that adobe has to make things more difficult than it actually is. I recently made a form from adobe(i would rather go to the dentist to pull teeth)
and no one in my office could check a box, save and email it back to me cause they only had the reader. Then adobe want to charge $1500 to make the reader version save a form. EXTORTION. stay away from adobe products and make your life much easier.

Submitted by indiejeep on November 17, 2008 - 2:50pm.
We must have Flash on the iPhone.

I am no big fan of Flash but the fact is that it is widely used on some of the best multimedia content on the web. You frankly cannot even claim to have the "whole Internet" on your phone when every third website you load has that little blue box staring back at you when the Flash content didn't load. The 3G speeds would be much more relevent of all the web's streaming content was actually accessible.

not all is content

Submitted by madscientest on November 17, 2008 - 4:18pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by indiejeep View Post
We must have Flash on the iPhone.

I am no big fan of Flash but the fact is that it is widely used on some of the best multimedia content on the web. You frankly cannot even claim to have the "whole Internet" on your phone when every third website you load has that little blue box staring back at you when the Flash content didn't load. The 3G speeds would be much more relevent of all the web's streaming content was actually accessible.
most of the flash on most website is advertisements. It would only make the page take that much longer to load. I do not need to wait for the page to load advertisements. Now if we could tell the difference between ads and website functions that would be a plus. until then please keep flash off the iphone.

Also most pages have a flash free website that will redirect you so no real loss of function there. only large graphic files that take time to load, this is not the point of a "mobile browser" with speed and data caps.

Submitted by indiejeep on November 17, 2008 - 5:11pm.
I agree the advertisments are a concern.

I think part of the iPhone's beauty is ending the distinction between mobile and standard Internet. If our devices still require special or alternative sites we are not there yet.

I wish all sites had a means of viewing non-flash versions, but it is just not the case.

I do think we should be able to turn Flash off when it is not desired though.

I have a hard time supporting the thought that the Flash functionaily should not be included on the phone in general though. We don't want our devices to drive the content, we want it the other way around.

Submitted by imagine engine on November 17, 2008 - 9:15pm.
There are a lot of high-end post-production studios using Flash for their websites. It gets really frustrating when I realize I can't view such sites and have to wait till I'm back in the office or else carry my MacBook Pro where ever I go. Flash isn't for everyone but it is widely used by website designers that it's become a standard for most web designers.

What about iphone format pages

Submitted by madscientest on November 18, 2008 - 2:23pm.
Quote:
Originally Posted by imagine engine View Post
There are a lot of high-end post-production studios using Flash for their websites. It gets really frustrating when I realize I can't view such sites and have to wait till I'm back in the office or else carry my MacBook Pro where ever I go. Flash isn't for everyone but it is widely used by website designers that it's become a standard for most web designers.
I get really annoyed when i go to a site and it formatted for an iphone only page and dont get to see the real page.

Bottom line is flash does not "have to be" on the iphone. if it had to be, then it would be. this is a luxury item that will take more power to run, slow down the web more, and load a bunch of advertisements. None of which I personal want. Granted there are some page where it would be nice to view flash, but that is a very small portion of the web. As a web designer I stay away from Adobe all together. their programs are filled with bugs and quarks not to mention that every app is completely different than each other. for instance the way you zoom in photoshop is way different than the way you zoom in illustrator. WHY? I cant stand adobe for many reason.