Adobe recently updated the Flash player roadmap document. No major changes, but there are a few things worth noting. (It also reads like a subtle hint that Flash will not be innovated as rapidly on desktop. Don’t know if this is just a change in course or there’s something else to it Here goes. ......continue reading

I came across this article via my network on linked-in and couldn’t agree more. There was a panel at Cable-Tec expo at Orlando and these remarks were made by Albert Lai, Innovation architect at Brightcove. Everybody is tremendously excited about HTML5 today but there’s tremendous amount of fragmentation today with respect to browsers, platforms features and what not. I often spend lot of time educating customers about these shortcomings and we plan on writing a white paper in the near future. ......continue reading

Rumors of Flash player being part of Windows 8 metro version have started appearing on more than one blog sites. Apparently Microsoft is in talks with Adobe to include Flash player into IE browser. The reason being given is that ‘there’s still plenty of content on the internet that uses Flash and not having Flash would have been looked at negatively on Windows!!’.  There were reports earlier that Windows 8 metro will not provide plug-in architecture and therefore will not support Flash the way it does on desktop today. But according to the reports, Flash will be integrated with the browser and distributed by Microsoft. ......continue reading

Adobe has started making announcements about future of Flash and as expected there are lots of twists and turns and caveats. For example, on Linux, it has been announced that Flash will migrate to Googles PPAPI ‘Pepper’ APIs and will be bundled with Chrome. This means that future versions of Flash will no longer be available for Firefox and other browsers that support Netscape plug-in APIs. This is expected to happen post Flash 11.2. ......continue reading

FITC (OK - this time FITC has a meaning and it stands for Future… Innovation…. Technology…. Creativity!) Toronto is taking place April 23-25 in Toronto. The conference features 70 renowned digital creators from around the globe and covers wide range of topics from HTML5 to making digital art. The conference also offers plenty of opportunities for networking via parties and such. Folks organizing FITC has graciously offered a discount code for readers of this blog. Use discount code EmbeddedFlash to get 10% off the tickets to FITC. ......continue reading

Much is being debated about Adobe’s decision to end life for Flash mobile. Remarks have ranged from ‘didn’t Steve Jobs say so’ to ‘what the *#$$’ to ‘I feel like I’ve been let down by Adobe’ and so on. While I am sure Adobe has its own reasons, but in my opinion, it simply came down to ‘Return on Investment’. Now keep in mind, we are Adobe’s scaling partners. So our goal is also to make profit with Flash player (identical to Adobe’s), and have experienced every pain that Adobe has. In this capitalist world, goal of any business is to create ‘value’ in exchange of the ‘effort’ one puts in. In this case, it was just a matter of deciding whether the return on investment on Flash was worth the effort. Ultimately Adobe decided to follow route that would generate dollars as a business and in the process ended up killing Flash on mobile. ......continue reading

Much has been debated about Steve Job’s decision to not support Flash on iPhone.  Even though 99 % of all internet enabled PCs are Flash capable , Steve decided to choose not to go with Flash. Much has been debated about Steve’s decision and the battle between two. Many people(including myself) love the functionality that Flash offers and don’t want to miss out when they start using a smart phone. Several Android phones come equipped with Flash made by prominent OEMs such as  O2 - Samsung Galaxy. Now iPhones accounted for ~ 17% smartphone share for the final quarter of 2010. So that left more than 80% of smart phone users with access (or potential access) to Flash.  Samsung, of all companies, seems to be doing great when it comes to selling smartphones (and tablets) and, not surprisingly, there’s a legal battle going on between Apple and Samsung for ‘copying ideas’. ......continue reading

FITC is coming to Amsterdam in 2011. This event promises to showcases work that is shaping the future of the digital interactive industry. (BTW, I think FITC stands for Flash In Tin Can but I am not sure….. On a side note Flash related conferences do have some ‘Flashy’ names like ‘Flash’ on the Beach Anyways, if you are interested in going and want to save some $$s, feel free to use discount code ‘EmbeddedFlash’ while registering. It’ll save you at least 10%. The tickets are priced low for early registrants and you can save even more if you use the code. ......continue reading

Well, I have been lazy when it comes to writing a blog of late, but here I am. Lot of things have happened since my last post and the world of multimedia continues to get as interesting as it could. Flash has been upgraded to Flash 11 and AIR 3 is now available. The greatest improvement in Flash 11, Stage 3D (previously known as Molehill), promises to revolutionize the gaming industry with stunning 3D capabilities. ......continue reading