Adobe drops the Distributable Player Solution
November 15th, 2009 by scottjanousek
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
Loading ...During a recent Adobe e-seminar, it was divulged that Adobe has dropped the Flash Lite Distributable Player Solution project (e.g. Distributable Player, Adobe Mobile Packaging tool, Adobe Version checker).
The Distributable Player Solution was intended as a runtime and packaging solution for Flash Lite which allowed content and applications to be packaged in .CAB and .SIS format. It also allowed for distribution of the Flash (Lite) Player updates via Over The Air updates through version checking.
If you’re new to mobile and devices running Flash, this *does not* mean Flash Lite is going anywhere (i.e. Flash Player 10.1 is still going to have very low initial penetration rate across devices when it hits in 2010 compared to Flash Lite).
However, this news has caused some stir in the Flash Lite community, since there have been a few folks here and there (e.g. Phillipe, Alessandro, BlocketPC) that had strategies surrounding Flash Lite Distributable Player.
To me, it is not surprising news, given light to recent announcements (e.g. Flash Player 10.1, AIR, Flash Apps for Mobile Devices, Flex Mobile framework, etc) at Adobe MAX , as well as recent events at Adobe.
I’ll be posting more on this announcement, as well as some others, later. Stay tuned.
November 15th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
HA! I just installed Flash Lite 3.1 on my new HTC Touch Pro 2. Sad that we still don’t have any AS3 compatible Flash Player on mobile.
I realize that the end of the distributable project is not the end of Flash Lite, right?
November 15th, 2009 at 6:56 pm
Bummer. Come on, Adobe. Look to the future rather than short term gain.
November 15th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
AS3 is coming with 10.1 on devices. AS3 support with future Flash Lite versions would be a “nice have”, don’t you think?
November 15th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
My post on http://www.flashisbeautiful.com/?p=616 points the fact Adobe created for 5 years its own fragmentation bringing with him business partners but also many (small) developers.
The distributable player was a nice system to allow an end-user to download the Flash player adapted to his device … including in principle the upcoming Flash 10.x versions.
Yes, Flash 10 and AS3 is the future but we come back at square 0 in term of compatibility and deployment.
If there isn’t a seamless way to discover & install the Flash player for mobile user then the future won’t be so bright.
As an “old” and ardent supporter of Flash on mobile … I remain positive.
November 15th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Yes, I agree with many of your points, Philippe.
Robert, Flash Lite still has some life left with OEMs. Stay tuned.
Captivatoos, yes.
November 16th, 2009 at 4:50 am
Hi Scott,
Blocketpc has not strategies around distributable player, fortunately
, but we think is not good starting again talking with potential customers about supported devices, versions, and so on (at this moment distributable player was not a real solution, but it pointed to the right direction).
Distributable player was a really nice concept to solve problems behind versions, compatibility and upgrade of flash lite player on devices.
I’m sure Adobe is not going to stop researching and investing about flash on mobile devices, but the problem is about how fast we could have a real solution in the market that solves these points (points that always come to light when talk with customers)
November 16th, 2009 at 6:12 am
OEM: without a huge compatibility with closed OS (Samsung, LG and the others), the compatibility will remain low … even the “smartphones” market is increasing drastically.
I see the market moving fast but the lack of compatibility is the main point Adobe did not achieve well. As a comparison, after 5 years, Java performed better with phones in every manufacturers … ok it’s another story.
Open Screen Project is a good attempt to work with other big companies with a wide vision for Flash (online, desktop, mobile, tv) but, beyond of that, Adobe has to solve many problems and answer to the more more angry community – Flash plugin optimization, HTML5 competition … tough