Flash Lite Distributable Player is dropped by Adobe!!!
During yesterday eSeminar with Mark, came the news that the Adobe dropped the Flash Lite Distributable Player.
Looks like Adobe is concentrating on Flash 10.1 for the mobile browser, Air Mobile for standalone and Flash Lite 4 for the embedded low end devices, plus the iPhone.
I would be curious to know how many developers did have a strategy around the Flash Lite Distributable Player, any comments?
Alessandro
November 14th, 2009 at 5:58 am
Strange! So do you mean Air Mobile is replacing this?
November 14th, 2009 at 6:14 am
I don’t think as many developers had strategies around Distributable Player as Adobe would have thought, or liked. That being said, I think this is a very backward decision, and definitely shows that FP10.1 is the focus. However, penetration of FP10.1 will suffer the same the slow release as we’ve experienced with Flash Lite for the past 5 years (and on far less devices), so I’m not confident about this strategy.
November 14th, 2009 at 6:28 am
Ciao,
@Vivek, looks like that’s the focus.
@Dale, we talked about this for the past 5 years and I agree with you. Mobile is not just about the runtimes.
I always tried to make people understand that content distribution is the key and fundamental aspect/barrier that makes a mobile strategy work or not.
Alessandro
November 14th, 2009 at 7:00 am
Designing a strategy around the Distributable player would have never been a good decision because it targeted only the higher end handsets in any case.
Distribution means is penetrating into a mass market where consumers don’t need to be educated about the software they are installing. And with Flash Lite, questions relating to distribution and installation always come up when talking to potential parties.
I completely agree with Dale and Alessandro that content and distribution is key..with Flash 10.1 (if that is the focus) we will end up seeing the same slow release as we have seen with Flash Lite since the past 5 years.
Mariam
November 14th, 2009 at 7:26 am
I’m not really surprised. The future of Flash (Lite) for Mobile is online/in-browser I believe.
November 14th, 2009 at 8:24 am
Ciao,
I completely agree with Dale and Alessandro. Flash Mobile: new FP10.1, same problems of Flash Lite (5 years of experience down the drain).
November 14th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Disgusted I am.
Agree with Dale and Alessandro.
I would add: so much time and money spent, so much effort done, so much trust in Adobe we had … to come back to the starting square in 2004 (and even before).
Definitely, Adobe management will remain a mistery to me.
I blog it as well: http://www.flashisbeautiful.com/?p=616
November 15th, 2009 at 6:02 am
I personnaly think Distributable wasn’t a solution : UX was sooooo bad on Symbian.
Only use it for WiMo release, else SWFPack like Mark talked about on the eSeminar.
Like Peter, I also think Adobe seems to go to Flash On Browser solution (I use the slides of MAX as reference)
Before to make a difference between Flash On Mobile and Air On Mobile.
It only remains some questions :
what about GetJar which supported AMP based release ?
what will happens to Nokia Services ?
what will happens to Capuchin ?
It’s what I will look for on 2010
November 15th, 2009 at 10:06 am
I go with William though !
You see even though Dale and Alessandro are right in saying that ‘content distribution is the key’, but we shouldn’t forget if Adobe does not take a decision like this right now it may end up deploying a temporary solution on phones, that will eventually be a stranded ship. In long term Adobe’s commitment to the open screen project members, should hold confidence in itself. Now the market is going to get more competition from JavaFX mobile, Silverlight etc:
So even though they may have done a lot of work on the distributable flash lite player , its better to loose a few dollars here. If they believe flash player 10.1 will be a better solution in long term than investing on small (lite versions) in short terms i think we should stand with them.
Often you are working on a s/w project with a technology, and once you are 75% done you hit on a better technology/technique that will make your application even better, and when the performance really shines out, I guess most of us will take a bit more time and implement the newer technology, specially on mobiles where you don’t have the chance of replacing the technology once its deployed.
Think of it as a as2 vs as3 preference or so.
In my view its better to avoid further fragmentation in the mobile flash player.
November 15th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Ciao,
I also agree with Alessandro and Dale about the key role of distribution, but I also agree with Mariam and William about the distributable player not being a real solution for that!
I really hope that Adobe plans to deliver a more robust solution soon (air mobile?) but again the problem with that could be the delay until it will be a real usable soltion as Andrea said. The strange thing is that also other packaging tools like nokia packager and swfpack were dropped almost at the same time…
-Leo
November 15th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
What is Adobe thinking?! They keep shooting themselves in the foot – just when there was enough traction for FlashLite and just when we thought the mother of all packaging/distribution options was here they go and pull the plug!
SWFpack.com going offline at the same time is a double blow… I really hope the community can change both services’ minds. I’m sure there is so much support among developers!
November 15th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
>I would be curious to know how many developers did have a strategy around the Flash >Lite Distributable Player, any comments?
Nope.
Personally I don’t find the news is not surprising. Adobe has essentially handed over the reigns of Flash Lite to OEMs. Yes, it is very apparent most of Adobe is focused on 10.1, and yes, essentially starting from ground zero again with newer player technology (e.g. yes, penetration is will be low in 2010 starting out, etc).
Distributable Player was a nice idea … if it had been done back in 2006 or 2007 (we talked about this in 2004/2005 when player penetration was very, very low – a presented a serious problem). At that time Adobe was focused more on selling FL to OEMs though, much more than helping developers build ecosystems, at least that was my perception …
I believe Dale and Alessandro are right about FP 10.1, but if you take a look at the state of mobile today, everyone is going native anyways, even Adobe … just look at the Flash Apps for iPhone initiative, for instance.
I think we’ll see a shift towards mobile web, as it’s Adobe’s last chance to stay in the mobile game and stay relevant … Flash Lite and FP 10.x for non-portables will still be viable ecosystems and places where Flash makes the most sense, though. Flash is a great technology OEMs can use on devices as they see fit.
Today, it’s all about getting Flash supported across all mobile and device browsers. I do believe they are only going to have one hold out, but they won’t be able to hold out for long, especially with everyone else moving to mobile web … native is now, but the future is a true mobile web now that UX and hardware has caught up.
It’ll be interesting to see many of the old (business) problems, challenges, etc come up when 10.1 comes to light.
I’ll post my thoughts on this news on my Flash Mobile and Devices blog soon : http://flashmobile.scottjanousek.com/
November 15th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
I would like to add that content distribution is only part of the problem as it is only an outward facing view. What’s missing is a well-integrated and vibrant marketplace like the iTunes AppStore where search/browse, download, and installation are tightly integrated with the device and seamless for end users.
In my opinion, AIR publishing will only be as successful as the delivery pipeline is complete, with : packaging, distribution, online/on-device catalog, automated billing, good revenue split – or else mobile/device publishing will remain a passionate hobby – but certainly not a serious business.
This requires much cooperation between hardware, software, and network companies – which might just be too difficult. Looking back at Apple – they had great hardware, software, and service when they walked into AT&T. When Adobe pitches mobile/device publishing next time ’round, they better arrive with a bit more than just AIR.
-Liz
November 15th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Ok, I almost dropped from my chair reading Candide comment but it’s true…
SWFPack is now down !!!!!
There is NO LONGER a valid solution to package…
This time I agree : we’re going some years backward!
…need to reinstall the S60 SDK it seems….
What the hell is that ?! Killing Flash Lite to let the place clean for Flash 10 ?!
November 15th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
I don’t think my comment was as much about content distribution, as it was about the time to market for Flash rendering on devices. Dandelion DID promise improvement around distribution and even included the never-released App Zone during beta (so Liz, they started down an integrated market place track but then pulled back), but unfortunately for guys like Philippe, that never eventuated.
I’ve gone into more detail on my own thoughts here – http://dalerankine.com/index.php/2009/11/goodbye-dandelion-the-death-of-adobes-distributable-flash-lite-player-solution/
November 15th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
Liz, Adobe is actively getting into more services oriented revenue models, so it’ll be interesting to see how they roll out to mobile & devices. We did see a glimpse of this at Adobe MAX, but I do not believe I saw a mobile specific example of monetization of Flash content. I’m guessing this ties into the AIR on mobile & devices initiative, but it’s not totally clear yet.
With Apple, they also had a strong brand and followers. Adobe has software & tools. They are getting into services. Hardware, well, I asked a while back and I got an answer … if they did do hardware, it wouldn’t be what you’d expect (a mobile device) … however, if I were Adobe, I would have put 1.6 billion towards buying palm rather than buying up a company like Omniture … not that Palm’s valuation is anywhere near 1.6 billion … and not that Adobe has any interest doing hardware (any time soon).
November 16th, 2009 at 5:53 am
@Dale, AppZone, sigh… i know, i know. I was doing mockups here of it on-device for preso/tutorial. But that was only a half-baked solution… not tied directly into an online store or operator billing for one-click download and pay (think Amazon/iTunes ease of use. we’re training customers to expect this level of integration/UX).
@Scott, thanks for the insights – like the idea about Palm and agree I would have preferred it to Omniture. Mobile & devices is more fun than advertising. Though I’m not expecting/desiring that Adobe go into hardware. It was just my observation that the partnerships don’t seem to be strong enough or streamlined enough to provide a complete solution. This seems to be pervasive throughout the mobile industry — hence the myriad of App Stores.
My thought was that to be successful building and selling mobile apps (widgets, AIR apps, you name it) – we need a complete end-to-end solution that smoothly integrates all the necessary pieces – otherwise it’s not viable in the new mobile marketplace.
- Liz
November 16th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Distribution, and Packaging seem to be somewhat unsolvable problems for those in control. The lowest common denominator (in the future sometime) will be to develop limited, full screen, Flash 10.1 browser based applications. Everything else (Native Apps) will have to be done 1 platform at a time, and will not be cheap. Fragmentation lives on.
November 17th, 2009 at 7:24 am
I don’t know how this could come as such a surprise. If you’ve been listening to Adobe over the last two years, they’ve made it very clear that the Flash Lite mentality that has existed was going to be going away. They felt, and realized that most developers don’t want to have to worry about two runtimes, two codebases, and two delivery paths. That’s why Flash 10.1 is so powerful (although it was expected this this was going to start taking place in 9.x or 10.0). Flash 10.1, with very little modification to my code, I can target the browser, AIR, and virtually any mobile device all on the same platform. Flash Lite was always an excercise in futility that really made a have and have-nots between mobile developers (those who get it, and thosw who don’t).
November 19th, 2009 at 3:49 am
Sad news, but I see this coming. I also mentioned in my post sometime ago,
http://www.orison.biz/blogs/chall3ng3r/?p=249
“Adobe/MM is used learn lessons hard way. They did same with Central and the product died, and they are continuing with FL as well which I believe is quite unfortunate.”
I have an unfinished post titled “Future of Flash Lite”. Now I need to finish it soon.
Since I am Flash Platform geek, I am all in for this new development from Adobe and can hope things get better. And also supporting Adobe by providing my feedback.
// chall3ng3r //
November 19th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Now I gone through all the comments,
And I completely agree with you Liz: “When Adobe pitches mobile/device publishing next time ’round, they better arrive with a bit more than just AIR.”
“William: There is NO LONGER a valid solution to package…”. There is. Its not like I’m marketing my own product (but a little bit…:)), but it’s a fact that SWF2Go was the first solution to make and sell FL apps on S60 3rd Edition devices, and today still offers most simplified solution available. I have another unfinished blog post “The Story of SWF2Go”. Will be publishing it pretty soon.
I have seen many AIR based desktop apps, good ones as well. But I am unaware of any good ones which are commercial, and making any good $$$. Also, I’d prefer MDM Zinc like distribution mechanism over AIR. AIR2 looks good, but have to play with it a bit.
Lets see how things develop further after MS’s Silverlight 4 announcements.
// chall3ng3r //