when is flash coming?

[pieseller]

is flash something that is likley to appear soon for the iphone- say macworld? or would anybody speculate that it could be a long while until we see it, say iphone 2nd generation.

many people have mentioned before that flash is popular for gimmick sites and adverts, but it is also used for film websites, which i like to spend time wathcing, so it would be a valuable addition to the iphone for me.

what are your thoughts?

 

[star800]

maybe it still need a long time ,because Flash was produced by Adoble coroperation , if Apple coroperation want to suport flash ,he will give a lot of money to Adoble .

 

[kdarling]

Yes, Flash is also useful for cool apps. Like this free UI being done for WM phones in FlashLite:

FreeStyl interface for WM

As far as Flash coming to the iPhone, this is what a senior Adobe engineer said on their forum Dec 10th:

This is not something that Adobe can address. The iPhone is, for now, a completely closed OS. We cannot create a Flash Player for it. And it remains to be seen what the SDK will bring in the late winter....

So yes, you do have to ask Apple. It's entirely up to them. Believe me, I'd love to see it. I have [had] two iPhones since they came out, and it's frustrating to me too.

 

[dopeytree]

Why

maybe it still need a long time ,because Flash was produced by Adoble coroperation , if Apple coroperation want to suport flash ,he will give a lot of money to Adoble .

Do apple currently pay adobe to develope flash for osx? I dont think they do so why shud they for the iphone, its in there interest so that the people who buy flash can develope for the iphone i.e ads and apps etc

 

[docprego]

Yes, Flash is also useful for cool apps. Like this free UI being done for WM phones in FlashLite:

FreeStyl interface for WM

As far as Flash coming to the iPhone, this is what a senior Adobe engineer said on their forum Dec 10th:

Sounds like Flash will be coming once the SDK is available to developers. I would have thought a major developer like Adobe would already have the SDK. I really want Flash support so I hope this happens but it makes me wonder what Apple would do with their Youtube client? Would they drop it? Once Flash is available the app becomes sort of redundant. Then again it is different than the standard Youtube experience so maybe they will keep it?

I am really excited about the SDK in general, I can't wait to see the power of the iPhone available to the Mac development community. I mean there is only so much you can do with a web app, but native apps-look out!

 

[bpeikes]

No Flash because Apple wants control of the streaming video?

I have a sneaking suspicion that the fact that there is no Flash support is not because they can't, but because they don't want it. If Flash was available, you could watch videos off of any site. Apple seems to have the iPhone in content provider lockdown. i.e. the weather and the stocks application is sponsored by Yahoo, etc...
I think they're waiting to see how much not having Flash will piss people off before adding it. There are too many features missing from the iPhone that only make sense if you think that Apple is focusing their iPhone efforts on making it a way to sell content.

 

[kdarling]

There are too many features missing from the iPhone that only make sense if you think that Apple is focusing their iPhone efforts on making it a way to sell content.

At first I was going to reply that you're being too cynical, but really I think you're right. And it's not just Apple:

Look at all the huge companies that are in, or jumping into, the mobile arena hoping to make a killing selling content and services.

Handhelds have become the combination game system and cable TV of the new era. Everyone wants a piece of the action. Smartphone sales are overtaking laptops.

 

[atmenterprises]

Sorry to hijack, but when is there going to be an Intel Mac version of Shockwave?

 

[goosnarrggh]

Do apple currently pay adobe to develope flash for osx? I dont think they do so why shud they for the iphone, its in there interest so that the people who buy flash can develope for the iphone i.e ads and apps etc

It seems likely to me that Adobe really might not have access to the SDK yet.

Even if they do, it is quite possible that they look at the iPhone as just another handheld device.

They currently treat handheld OSes much differently than they do their desktop counterparts: They develop and distribute Flash players for desktop operating systems (Linux x86, Windows, Mac) directly to the end user.

But for handheld devices (PalmOS, WinCE, etc), their advertised scheme is to distribute source code for Flash (either Flash Player 7 or the FlashLite player) to the device manufacturer in exchange for a royalty agreement, and from that point on it's primarily the manufacturer's responsibility (with some support options available from Adobe) to perform the engineering effort required to incorporate the player into the device's OS.

(However, you can currently download "reference" implementations of FlashLite that is claimed to be primarily aimed at developers, for Windows Mobile and Symbian devices. It also happens to work for end-users.)