OMEN
05-02-2008, 11:35 AM
Major vendors support project to create UIs that run across mobile, desktop devices
Adobe Systems Inc. today launched a new community development project that uses its Flash and Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) technologies to create consistent application interfaces across multiple devices, such as smart phones, PCs and set-top boxes.
Adobe's Open Screen Project aims to get digital content providers, device manufacturers, service providers and developers to create the common interfaces using Flash for the Web and AIR for client-side applications, said Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch.
The company said that several major vendors have joined the program, which eliminates any restrictions now preventing third-party firms from building Adobe Flash-like tools. "We're removing that restriction to increase the confidence of people in the industry adopting Flash as the core format across devices," he said.
Flash is Adobe's runtime technology for delivering rich media on Web sites, while the AIR desktop runtime is used to take rich Internet applications to the desktop.
Lynch said the program and the support of top vendors is needed because developers today cannot easily create applications that provide the same look-and-feel on both Web-based and desktop systems. "If you look at the current experience, content doesn't work reliably; you can't easily install applications, you can't get applications on a device," he said.
Indeed, while both the Java and Flash runtimes have allowed Web applications to run on myriad handheld devices, neither has so far allowed for a seamless transfer between formats of applications. In particular, smart phones, which are increasingly becoming the norm for mobile phone users, are a largely untapped territory for Flash, Lynch said.
Adobe's Flash technology, for example, cannot currently run on Apple's iPhone so Web sites running Flash will not render on the iPhone's Safari browser. The Open Screen Project should help solve that problem, he said.
Flash Lite, an implementation of the technology for mobile and consumer electronics devices, currently runs on some 500 million mobile devices and should be on 1 billion by 2009, Lynch said. The Open Screen Project should help by creating single Flash and AIR runtimes that can run on both PCs and the smaller devices.
Lynch said that Adobe is also looking for the Open Screen Project to create technology that can be used to automatically update Flash and AIR software on mobile devices. He noted that Flash Players can already be automatically updated on the Web.
Running automatic updates across the devices of multiple vendors also requires cooperation among device makers, application vendors and content providers, he noted. "It's really important to ... keep the runtime [on devices] fresh," Lynch said. "We can't do that alone."
So far, the worldwide firms that have agreed to support the project include: NTT DoCoMo, Chunghwa Telecom, Nokia Corp., Sony Ericsson, Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Inc., Toshiba, Qualcomm, Intel, Marvell, Verizon Wireless, Cisco Systems Inc., BBC Worldwide Ltd., MTV Networks and NBC Universal.
Lynch said that Adobe has already embarked on the Open Screen Project by uniting its internal mobile and desktop Flash and AIR development teams so they are working on one consistent platform for all devices. "The mobile teams and desktop engineering are now together in a group I'm leading called the Experience and Technology Organization," he said.
Computerworld
Adobe Systems Inc. today launched a new community development project that uses its Flash and Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) technologies to create consistent application interfaces across multiple devices, such as smart phones, PCs and set-top boxes.
Adobe's Open Screen Project aims to get digital content providers, device manufacturers, service providers and developers to create the common interfaces using Flash for the Web and AIR for client-side applications, said Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch.
The company said that several major vendors have joined the program, which eliminates any restrictions now preventing third-party firms from building Adobe Flash-like tools. "We're removing that restriction to increase the confidence of people in the industry adopting Flash as the core format across devices," he said.
Flash is Adobe's runtime technology for delivering rich media on Web sites, while the AIR desktop runtime is used to take rich Internet applications to the desktop.
Lynch said the program and the support of top vendors is needed because developers today cannot easily create applications that provide the same look-and-feel on both Web-based and desktop systems. "If you look at the current experience, content doesn't work reliably; you can't easily install applications, you can't get applications on a device," he said.
Indeed, while both the Java and Flash runtimes have allowed Web applications to run on myriad handheld devices, neither has so far allowed for a seamless transfer between formats of applications. In particular, smart phones, which are increasingly becoming the norm for mobile phone users, are a largely untapped territory for Flash, Lynch said.
Adobe's Flash technology, for example, cannot currently run on Apple's iPhone so Web sites running Flash will not render on the iPhone's Safari browser. The Open Screen Project should help solve that problem, he said.
Flash Lite, an implementation of the technology for mobile and consumer electronics devices, currently runs on some 500 million mobile devices and should be on 1 billion by 2009, Lynch said. The Open Screen Project should help by creating single Flash and AIR runtimes that can run on both PCs and the smaller devices.
Lynch said that Adobe is also looking for the Open Screen Project to create technology that can be used to automatically update Flash and AIR software on mobile devices. He noted that Flash Players can already be automatically updated on the Web.
Running automatic updates across the devices of multiple vendors also requires cooperation among device makers, application vendors and content providers, he noted. "It's really important to ... keep the runtime [on devices] fresh," Lynch said. "We can't do that alone."
So far, the worldwide firms that have agreed to support the project include: NTT DoCoMo, Chunghwa Telecom, Nokia Corp., Sony Ericsson, Samsung Electronics Co., Motorola Inc., Toshiba, Qualcomm, Intel, Marvell, Verizon Wireless, Cisco Systems Inc., BBC Worldwide Ltd., MTV Networks and NBC Universal.
Lynch said that Adobe has already embarked on the Open Screen Project by uniting its internal mobile and desktop Flash and AIR development teams so they are working on one consistent platform for all devices. "The mobile teams and desktop engineering are now together in a group I'm leading called the Experience and Technology Organization," he said.
Computerworld