Flash Video Player for Android et al
Is it finally here? Yes it is. Well… Almost… And what is it? Only the greatest thing since smart phones, that’s what. Its gonna turn your smart phone into a true full fledged wireless mobile media device.
Its flash video for smart phones – its the Adobe Flash Player 10.1.
And just like last November, its almost ready, but not quite. (http://www.chilledoutbeardedman.com/2009/01/25/g1-android-and-adobe-flash-player/) But its definitely sounding a lot more realistic this time around.
It was announced earlier today on October 5, 2009 at Adobe MAX as a part of the Open Screen Project, an initiative to “Enable consumers to engage with rich Internet experiences seamlessly across any device, anywhere.” (www.openscreenproject.org)
A beta version of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 is expected to be available for some devices by the end of 2009. You can sign up to be notified about this release here: https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=labs_flashplayer10_signup
The Flash Player is expected to be fully available for the first half of 2010, whatever that means.
You can read all of the technical details about the new Flash Player here:
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashplayer10/features.html
I couldn’t be more excited for this.
I guess 3G service providers will have to start instituting policies for bandwidth usage, as bandwidth is already being strained without mobile devices having easy access to streaming video content. Apple users have been complaining about bad and slow connections for quite some time now on the AT&T coverage they are required to use.
The big question for me, though, is how’s this all gonna work on T-Mobile’s Android phones?
Not surprisingly, the day before Adobe’s big announcement Google made a little announcement of their own. Google announced that they are joining Adobe on the Open Screen Project. (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/teaming-up-with-adobe-and-open-screen.html)
I’ve been wondering for quite some time what the hang up is with getting the Flash Player to run on a wireless mobile device seeing as us Android users have had Youtube accessibility for quite some time now.
It will also be interesting to see how this affect’s the smart phone market as this version of Flash Player is not expected to run on the iPhone. Adobe is giving developers tools in CS5 for developing iPhone video applications in ActionScript3. CS5 will be available by the end of this year. (http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcs5/appsfor_iphone/)
Perhaps Apple is planning to come out with some new device that outshines all smart phones including the iPhone and if they can get it onto Verizon’s awesome network maybe they would be in business. But for now, I’m gonna stick with my T-Mobile G1… (Although, the up-and-coming Android based Motorola Cliq sure is sounding tempting. http://www.motorola.com/Consumers/US-EN/Consumer-Product-and-Services/Mobile-Phones/Motorola-CLIQ-US-EN)
Go Adobe! We’ve been ready. We’re ready now. And when you put it out there, we’ll all be there ready with big smiles and glassed over eyes (from watching too many videos, of course).