Webware

The HTC Hero phone will have Flash support built in.

(Credit: HTC)

Marking a departure from the world of iPhone, HTC's new Android-based Hero phone will also come with the ability to handle Flash elements that adorn many Web sites and power YouTube video.

Adobe Systems announced on Wednesday that its Flash Player will be built into the HTC phone, an important step in the company's efforts to spread Flash to mobile phones. The phone, one of several from HTC to use Google's open-source operating system, is scheduled to ship in Europe starting in July and in Asia and North America later in the year.

However, the initial version won't match Flash Player 10, the current version for PCs, which can run programs written with ActionScript 3. Instead, the Android version will handle ActionScript 2 applications written for Flash Player 9 chores, Adobe said. HTC is participating in the Open Screen Project to bring Flash Player 10 to mobile phones through over-the-air updates, though, so Adobe expects fuller Flash support eventually.

"Flash Player 10 for mobile platforms that include Android is expected to be available in the first half of 2010. We are working on delivering a beta of Flash Player 10 in the fourth quarter of 2009," the company said in a statement.

The Flash support will be built into the phone and not available as a download for other Android phone users, Adobe said.

Just having a check mark in a feature list isn't enough to outflank a competitor, but Flash is a significant feature on the Web. It powers many games, streaming videos, and dynamic stock charts, and other elaborate features on Web pages. And Flash is also used for many more dynamic advertisements.

Adobe demonstrated Flash on Android in an online video Wednesday, showing off the technology for watching a trailer at Yahoo Movies, playing the Penguin Swing game, and selecting a region on travel site Expedia. Double-clicking on the Flash element on the Web page runs it full screen.

Apple's iPhone doesn't run Flash, though Adobe would like to see it there and has been developing a version.

"We are developing Flash player for the iPhone. To release software on the iPhone requires Apple's agreement. We have to make it work great, and need to get their agreement to have it released," said Adobe chief technology officer Kevin Lynch in a 2008 interview. "We would love to see Flash on the iPhone."

As part of the Streaming Media East conference in New York, Adobe has unveiled "Strobe," the "open framework" for its Flash video player that the company first announced last month. It's expected to be available in the third quarter of this year.

Since you were probably wondering: No, Adobe is not tweaking the pronunciation of "Strobe" so that it rhymes. Thank goodness.

But here's what it is: Strobe is a product and architecture for accompanying plug-ins based on Adobe's Flash technology that lets a company build a custom video player more easily, should it want to host online videos in-house rather than relying on YouTube or its ilk.

While Adobe's ActionScript language is "very flexible," explained Jennifer Taylor, director of product management for Flash distribution, "everybody's sort of had to recreate that from scratch, and as a result it's taken people longer than they've wanted to to to get their video players up to get their video online."

The meat of Tuesday's announcement at Streaming Media East is that a host of big new partners are on board, from content delivery networks to analytics firms. The full list of supporters is Adap.tv, Akamai, Blip.tv, Brightcove, CDNetworks, Digital Smiths, Eyewonder, GlanceGuide, Grab Media, Incited Media, iStreamplanet, KickApps, Level3, Limelight Networks, Multicast, Nielsen, Omniture, Panache, PointRoll, ScanScout, Thumbplay, Visible Measures, and YuMe.

Strobe is "taking the mystery out of creating video players, and also streamlining and simplifying that process, so people can do it much faster than they could before," Taylor said. She added that ComScore statistics have said that Flash is used to serve up 80 percent of all online videos.

Adobe is calling Strobe an "open framework" and is inviting developers to contribute, but has not finalized the way that it will be licensed. There may, for example, be an open source version that developers are invited to try out, test, and build on, but the version that will be downloadable at Adobe.com may haev a different license. This, Adobe representatives said in an e-mail to CNET News, would "take all the best pieces of the open source code, bundled with plug-ins," but that it would be protected to "prevent modifications, breaking plug-ins and prevent competing branding."

Company representatives followed up later on Tuesday to clarify that "the intent is to work with a license that allows for liberal use and innovation."

But regardless of license, the Strobe framework will be free, and Adobe does not have plans to charge for it. "Our intent is to not monetize Strobe directly," Taylor said. "Obviously, we anticipate and hope that Strobe will help accelerate the adoption of Flash video, and the rising tide helps all boats: it's going to help our partners and those who provide plug-ins for the framework."

This post was updated at 1:43 p.m. PT to clarify the use of open source technology in Strobe.

Facebook has partnered with Adobe Systems to make it easier for developers to bring its Flash technology to their social apps, the two companies have announced. Adobe has introduced a new ActionScript 3.0 client library to provide resources to developers who are using Flash on Facebook's developer platform and Facebook Connect product, and will be promoting the possibilities of integrating Flash with Facebook's API on its Web site.

"There just weren't a lot of great tools that officially helped developers put these platforms together," Facebook senior platform manager Josh Elman told CNET News. While unofficial Flash libraries have been amassed by Facebook developers before, this is "an officially supported library that we're both endorsing that Adobe, who are really the experts in Flash development, could provide better samples and documentation to their developer site," he said.

Flash is already a huge presence on Facebook's platform, particularly on the gaming side, Elman said--12 of its top 20 applications use the technology. And at big app development companies like RockYou or Zynga, working Flash into the platform was not much of a problem given the volume of engineering talent. The new library, which is free and open-source, is aimed particularly at independent developers whose limited expertise or resources may have made integrating code from Facebook and Flash more challenging.

"This is going to be just a much easier get-started toolkit," Elman said.

The announcement comes hot on the heels of rival social network MySpace's partnership with Microsoft to bring its Silverlight technology--a Flash rival--to its developer platform. Microsoft, ironically, has invested $240 million in Facebook. When asked if a similar Silverlight partnership would be coming to Facebook, Elman's comment was that Facebook is "constantly talking to Microsoft about a variety of things."

Both partnerships were timed to launch at this week's Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, which runs Tuesday through Friday.

Flash Player 10 was code-named Astro.

(Credit: Adobe Systems)

Astro is launched.

On Wednesday, Adobe Systems announced the release of a major update to its Flash technology to endow Web sites with better video, audio, and graphics. The new version 10 was code-named Astro, and it arrived just days after Microsoft released version 2.0 of its rival Silverlight software.

Flash Player 10, a free download also available for Windows and Mac users from Download.com, includes a number of new features:

• Easier-to-use 3D graphics effects.

• Better text handling for more sophisticated layouts combining words and graphics, more refined typography, and better multilingual applications.

• Better sound handling, so that different audio signals can be mixed together--for example, a music sound track with a game's audio effects.

• High-performance visual effects using technology called Pixel Bender that also works with After Effects CS4 and Photoshop CS4.

• Better abilities to tap into hardware acceleration.

• Adaptable video streaming that can adjust to changing network throughput.

Flash Player is a key part of Adobe's push to make Web-based applications more powerful. Adobe's Flex framework can be used to create applications that run on the Flash Player or as standalone computer applications running on AIR, the Adobe Integrated Runtime.

Flash and Silverlight aren't the only ways to make these so-called rich Internet applications, though. Silverlight, which drafts off Microsoft's strong developer base and its .Net programming technology, is a newer competitor. And JavaScript is growing up as a way to build more elaborate interfaces in Web applications. Flash, however, enjoys a very broad adoption, and users upgrade to the newer versions relatively swiftly.

Flash Player 10 also is used within Adobe's Creative Suite 4, a broad range of applications including Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, and Premiere that just began shipping. Because control panels are written with Flash technology, CS4 menus can be extended by third parties more easily, and Adobe plans to release a Configurator by the end of the month that will make it easy to create custom control panels.

Update 11:25 a.m. PDT: One big Pixel Bender fan is online photo editing site Picnik. Flash Player 10 speeds the site and enables "mind-blowing effects." It also means third parties can create effects of their own using the Pixel Bender technology. See some examples below.

"Future plans with Flash Player 10 include the addition of super high‐resolution photo capabilities, more sophisticated editing features, and the ability to load and save photos without involving an upload to a server," Picnik said Wednesday.

One special effect enabled by Flash Player 10 on Picnik's online photo editing site.

(Credit: Picnik)

Another Flash Player 10 effect in Picnik.

(Credit: Picnik)

Joost on Friday finally took an important step forward by announcing that its desktop software would be getting phased out to make way for a Web watching experience. The only problem is that special software is in fact still required--and we're not talking Adobe Flash.

Whether you're on a Mac or a Windows machine, you'll still need to install an executable file on your computer to view videos. The new plug-in sits on your desktop taskbar even when you're not viewing the site, and apparently only begins to pipe data back and forth to other users when you're watching Joost videos.

The new version of the site will be available for beta testers in about two weeks time, although I've had the chance to nose around and watch a few videos on it today. Despite the need for software, it's impressive. Videos start playing in just a few seconds and when toggled for full-screen, the quality scales up nicely.

Like before, there are pre-roll ads, although I found them less intrusive and disjointed than Hulu's experience. The only anti-user ad interference I stumbled across was when a pre-roll ad kept me from being able to scroll through content on a playlist. I had to wait about five seconds for the ad to run before I could get back to finding something to watch. Not cool.

The new Joost player runs right in your browser as long as you've got a small peice of software running on your machine. (click to enlarge)

(Credit: CBS Interactive)

The biggest thing missing from the new Joost is the feeling of immersion. The Joost application, for all it's faults, took you away from your desktop and everything else you were doing. Like up and comer Boxee, which runs off the core of Xbox Media Center, it's something that had personality and a really marvelous UI. The new version feels a tad sterile, although when it comes to browsing through episodes and series, there's noticeably less lag, and hey, you can continue to get work done on your computer at the same time.

The Joost software sits in your taskbar, ready to serve up vintage Star Trek.

(Credit: CBS Interactive)

Noticeably gone from the new Joost (at least for now) is the user chat. You can still comment on a video and favorite it, but the feeling of a real-time experience has gone out the door. There's also a feature called "shout it out" that lets you flag the video with various pop culture acronyms like LOL, HOT, PUKE, and the generally useful WTF. Clicking on any of these will play a canned sound clip and alert you of your flag, although it has no noticeable effect.

Ultimately the Joost experience comes down to the content and the various ways to dig through it to find something good. While the existing playlists are very good for this, when you're searching by TV network or content provider it's still difficult to simply browse by shows. For instance, clicking on MTV took me to a player that randomly began playing Laguna Beach. Ideally, it would jump me to a list of shows where I could drill down a little deeper--like what was available before.

Software aside, I'm excited to see Joost hop onto the Web. There's a lot of good content on there that you can't find elsewhere, and experiencing it in your browser will seem like second nature for newcomers--that is as long as they're willing to jump through a software hoop.

More screens after the jump.

Does the world really need another software add-on product?

That was my first question to Pat Sullivan, a serial software entrepreneur who started ACT and SalesLogix CRM. What was so broken that needed to be fixed with his latest company, Flypaper Studio?

CEO Pat Sullivan

(Credit: Flypaper Studio)

I suppose you could ask the same question about any number of so-called Web 2.0 apps that have appeared in the last couple of years. Still, as a former heavy-duty ACT user, I was especially curious to hear Sullivan's explanation.

The way Sullivan explains it, we're basically talking about something akin to Flash animations for dummies (my take.) With roughly a couple of million professional Flash programmers out there, ginning up fancy pages for their clients, the idea behind Flypaper is to give non-programmers the ability to repurpose that professional content. And, best of all, without paying anything extra for the "privilege." With so many companies in the United States battling the sub-prime blues, any cost-saving idea is worth serious consideration.

Flypaper dashboard

"There was a big problem in that Adobe Flash...is unavailable to the masses. The only way a mere mortal can do something really cool on a Web site or in a presentation is to hire a Flash programmer for a lot of money," said Sullivan. "They deliver (the finished project) to you in a form you can never edit or change. You're tethered to that programmer. We came to believe that that was really a big problem."

The project recently moved out of beta testing and is being offered in a free general release as well as a professional version for $195 per seat. The paid version also lets customers poll data through Web services and includes up to one gigabyte of storage.

I don't know if Flypaper's destiny is to remain an independent company or become a cool feature in another company's product portfolio. But the idea is intriguing. Flypaper would help businesses bypass pricey tech gatekeepers, who otherwise would be able to demand extra payment for extra work on their creations. As someone working in the Fourth Estate, I can't help but note the irony here. Over the last several years, so many techies have expressed delight at how technology was allowing the masses to bypass the former gatekeepers (ie: the press) to get their message out to the wider world. Now, it's come full circle. The implications potentially are profound. But that's fodder for another day.

Flypaper forms screen

In the meantime, the business plan was compelling enough to convince Sierra Ventures and SCF Arizona of Phoenix to supply $3.5 million in funding to Flypaper. The announcement hits the wire today. Last February, both organizations were participants in the first round of funding for the Phoenix-based company.

One immediate hurdle is the absence of enthusiasm among most regular people to try their hand at coding. Even if this is as simple as Flypaper claims-and nothing's ever as simple as they say in a press briefing--there's a lot of missionary work remaining. Flypaper will need to convince businesses its product is worth their peoples' time and invest the effort in training them. Corporate marketing departments and content creators will understand the gist of that argument without much trouble. But that's only a small part of any organization.

Sullivan says he heard similar arguments when he was selling contact management software.

"With ACT, there was a certain amount time the salesperson had to invest to get what they wanted out of it," he said. "But once they caught vision of what they wanted to do, they invested the time. I think the same thing will happen here...this is kind of like ACT in the beginning, where you had to convince people that yeah, you can do it. Every product has its market mountain to climb. That's part of the fun of it."

Adobe Systems is helping Google and Yahoo to uncover Web content that was previously "invisible" to Web searches.

Both companies have been given optimized Adobe Flash Player technology to help them better index dynamic Web content and rich Internet applications that include the Flash file format, or Shockwave Flash, Adobe said in a statement. Search engines already index static text and links within Shockwave Flash files, but rich Internet applications and dynamic Web content are elusive to search engines because of their changing states, Adobe noted.

Adobe's technology means that millions of pre-existing RIAs that use Flash technology, including content that loads at runtime, are immediately searchable without alteration by companies or developers, Adobe said. Google has already added the optimized Flash Player to its search engine, while Yahoo plans to add the technology to a future update of Yahoo Search.

"Designers and Web developers have long been frustrated that search engines couldn't better access the information within their content created with Flash technology. It's great to see Adobe and the search engines working directly together to improve the situation," Danny Sullivan, editor in chief of SearchEngineLand.com, said in a statement. "The changes should help unlock information that's previously been 'invisible' and will likely result in a better experience for searchers."

Adobe Systems on Wednesday released a new server for putting restrictions on content delivered from its Adobe Flash Media Server.

Called Adobe Flash Media Rights Management Server, the software is aimed at TV and movie producers who want more fine-grained control over how users view videos.

A content producer could let a user view a video only after seeing an advertisement, for example. The software also allows people to serve up media that can be viewed for only a certain amount of time.

The company is also releasing application programming interfaces (APIs) for the server that will allow developers to write AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) media applications with digital rights management embedded in them, said Laurel Reitman, senior product manager for Flash media services.

AIR is the company's platform for running Web applications offline.

The Adobe Media Player, due in the spring, will incorporate the content rights management software, Reitman said.

Note: This service officially launches on Thursday, and the site is password-protected until then. The folks at PDFMeNot gave us early access to share with Webware readers. Use the username "stateless" and password "systems" when prompted (no quotation marks either). Note that both are case sensitive.

One of life's little hassles is opening PDF links in a Web browser. The problem centers on Adobe's Acrobat software, which for all its popularity and genuine usefulness is notoriously slow. Depending on how old the system is, and the speed of the computers Internet connection, the application can bring the browsing experience to a halt with even the smallest of PDF files. While Firefox add-ons, such as FoxIt, have stepped up to the plate to let users can kick Acrobat to the curb, however, if they don't have it installed they're out of luck.

View PDF documents in a Flash viewer without mucking about with Acrobat using PDFMeNot.

(Credit: CNET Networks)

A new service from the creators of log-in-avoider BugMeNot called PDFMeNot is taking a whack at the PDF problem. The solution? Adobe's Internet darling: Flash. To get to Acrobat-free PDF bliss, give PDFMeNot the URL of the PDF that is to be viewed. The service will grab the file and convert it into an easy to use Flash document (similar to that of Scribd) in a matter of seconds. Once the URL has been submitted, others that click the link will get it automatically, as each file is cached for future viewing once processed.

Power users who want to avoid having to visit the site every time they want to click a PDF link have a simple option. They can add a small bookmarklet to their browser. The bookmarklet will automatically dig through a page and convert PDF-ridden links before they even think about clicking them. Likewise, Web publishers can add a little line of JavaScript that will do this on all their pages. They can also simply add a PDFMeNot.com redirect in front of each PDF URL, which simply opens up the file in the Flash viewer when clicked.

Related: PDF Hammer lets users tweak PDFs sans software