Adobe Flash 10.1: One Player to rule them all! (except Apple)
Last week Adobe announced Flash Player 10.1. With the release somewhere in the first half of 2010, Flash Player 10.1 is the first runtime release of the Open Screen Project. 10.1 unifies the Flash platform across “smartphones, smartbooks, netbooks, PCs and other Internet-connected devices, allowing content created using the Adobe Flash Platform to reach users wherever they are.” Adobe’s press release states that “the browser-based runtime enables millions of designers and developers to reuse code and assets and reduce the cost of creating, testing and deploying content across different operating systems and browsers.” This is a big deal. Let’s figure what it all means.
For years, interactive development teams have had to plan for cross-platform compatibility. When speaking with clients about projects, I have to hit them with a battery of questions around who their end users are, how they plan on delivering the content, long-term usage, etc. Too many times I heard the comments like “oh this will only be internal on our intranet” only to find out halfway through that they want a CD-ROM version as well. Sometimes the conversion was less complicated, other times the project had to be reworked from scratch.
The Good
With Flash 10.1, your content can be delivered to your customers in the same way, regardless of where they access it from. The experience should be identical to the PC experience, save for the small screen size. Most importantly, developers will not have to build variants from scratch to accommodate different devices and formats. The Flash content you see on the website will match what you see on the mobile device. Development should be more efficient, testing should be consistent, deployment should be a littler easier, and yes, eventually, costs could go down. Don’t bet on that last one though since you’ve probably been avoiding certain platforms since they were cost prohibitive. Plans are also in motion to bring Flash content to your TV!
The Flash Platform is also host to a growing number of business productivity and communication tools. For example, the Acrobat Connect Pro virtual meeting and collaboration solution runs in Flash Player. With Flash Player 10.1, participants will be able to join an Acrobat Connect meeting on their mobile device, interacting in real time with their remote desktop-bound colleagues.
The Bad and the Ugly
Of course it’s not all peaches and cream. We must now consider how content that is comfortable to view on a 20″ monitor translates to a 2-3″ screen. Perhaps browser Zoom features will be utilized more readily. My guess is that, in the short term, we may see content that looks awkward or unreadable, at least until the Flash geniuses compile some standards and best practices.
Usability, in general, will be questionable in this new age of Flash on the small screen. I don’t think we can expect any development team to have, or test on, all mobile devices.
So what about Apple’s iPhone? Well, it looks like Apple is continuing to not play well with others. In the Adobe Labs Flash Player 10.1 article FAQs, we find this little nugget: “While we have been working hard to make the browser plug-in available, without increased co-operation from Apple, it will not be possible.” So the iPhone will not be part of the awesomeness.
After speaking with some of my developer friends, the consensus is conservative, if not hesitant. They think the concept is great, but they just want to see it before getting too excited. I too, think the concept is great. Hopefully the reality will be great too!
Where’s the data?
For the last few months I’ve been tracking web browser usage. I don’t know if I want to try to jump in to the mobile device usage tracking arena. There are a lot of different devices out there. And operating systems too! Android, Windows Mobile, Palm WebOS, Blackberry RIM OS, iPhone OS… it’s a big list, but here at the NeoCommunicator we aim to explore the next big thing, and it certainly looks like mobile devices are about to take over (if they haven’t already). So look for some mobile data usage stats soon.
Adobe Flash 10.1 Press Release
Demos of Flash Player 10.1 on mobile devices
Open Screen Project
