A simple check at www.swfversion.com or www.playerversion.com in the N1 browser will reveal the user string: “FL 10.1″ … FL = Flash Lite … it’s just posting 10.1 as the version number because Flash Lite 4 is closer parity to full Flash Player 10.1 (that will eventually ship on the Google N1 and other devices that are capable of the runtime).
Someone put a video together which explains what many of us in the Flash (Lite) community already knew:
According to ubergizmo this German made tablet offers:
“an 11.6″ display at 1,366 x 768 resolution, an Intel Atom 1.66GHz N450 processor, GMA 3150 graphics, a batter that lasts for up to 6 hours, an integrated webcam, a couple of USB ports and a memory card reader.
Oh yeah, we left out the UMTS modem which allows you to hook up to the WePad App Store. Apart from that, this Android-powered device will also feature access to the Android Market – now how about that!”
Here’s a break down of features vs. the iPad:
Visit the WePad site … looks like right now this is pretty much vaporware right now …getting to market quickly will be critical as iPad is shipping early next month (or at least in the States). Yep, it’ll be a tablet platform war between Android and iPad … who will win?
I think we’ve all read the shape Palm’s in right now (not the best of financials) … however, I’m hopefully that they can still pull of a “Hail Mary”, or at the very least … get in a position for assimilation by some “sleeping giant” who wants to integrate the platform.
With that in mind, it’s anyone’s guess where Flash on the webOS platform is headed in the next few months. I’m hopefully that webOS won’t be the first fatality in the mobile device platform dominance race, but time will tell. As of today, it’s pretty clear iPhone and Android rule the market … or at least in the US, at the very least.
Last Sept in 2009, looks like Adobeput on a contextual app preso I must have missed right before MAX. Although it’s a bit out date, it’s still got some valid points and remarks in it.
Previously to 10.1, those in the Flash Lite world will remember products like Kuneri Lite, SWF2Go, Flyer, and others … as well as newer technologies like Nokia’s Bridging technology; all of which did a “bang-up” job of providing the support needed to extend Flash on devices.
Anyways, since day one of the announcing of Flash 10.1, I was always curious and asking Adobe about their plans to address API support for in-browser Flash. It seems this is the route developers must take … i.e. developers must extend Flash within the browser using everything they can get their hands on, and via Javascript and “bridging methods” to jump the gap with 10.1 and APIs not found inside the confines of the browser. Given the complexity of the problem, this is probably the only way Adobe could go.
Of course with AIR rolling out on mobile and devices later this year, however, the API is already baked into the Flash Player, which is very nice and should remain consistent API (Geolocation, Multi-touch, Accelerometer, Screen Orientation, etc) …
My only problem is that now there are 2 (more) variants of Flash: in-browser and out-of-browser Flash. This creates frag (it’s a good thing it’s fairly easy to take Flash content for one device or platform, and get it ported over to another, fairly quickly).
For the most part, I don’t think it’ll be much too much of a problem … agencies will use in-browser for things like ads, video, casual games … while AIR will provide some sort of alternative to doing native mobile app development (and hence provide more beefy and more direct access to APIs). There will be two markets and it’ll depend on what content you’re creating …
In any case, we all know (or should know) that WORA (Write for One, run anywhere) is a pretty much a mythical “unicorn” (i.e. it does not exist anywhere but there are plenty of fakes around) …
W4OT4M (Write for one, tweak for many) is more likely in 2010 as Flash 10.1 hits devices both inside and outside of the confines of the browser.
In the end, developers and businesses will use whatever technology save time, generates cash, and for which there is a market.
It’s worth a read. Embedded systems are highly underrated in the device world where “mobile is king” … yet a lot of world wouldn’t function without them (traffic lights, point of purchase kiosks, etc)!
I tend to like independent resources for this type of information, as if you tune into to Apple, or Google, Nokia, etc, they tend to “cook the books” as to what the #’s say … esp in presentations where investors are concerned.
I like the fact that this chart dispels a lot of myths and rumors I hear in Mobile Monday’s by people who don’t really know what they’re talking about in terms of *global* marketshare across devices … but who could blame them, as the mobile and device market operates at lightspeed these days.
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