Adobe Flash Player 10.2 has only been available for Windows and Mac for a few days but it will be coming to Android very quickly and offers roundabout confirmation of Honeycomb for smartphones.Both Flash and Adobe AIR seem to be doing quite well in the mobile arena thus far, as Adobe reports that AIR is presently in over 84 million smartphones and tablets……
At Mobile World Congress, Adobe Systems Incorporated announced that developers and content publishers can now deploy Adobe AIR applications to more than 84 million smartphones and tablets running Android and iOS. Thousands of applications have been created and made available on Android Market and Apple App Store to date. Adobe expects more than 200 million smartphones and tablets to support Adobe AIR applications.Adobe is also showcasing the latest release of Flash Player 10.2 along with additional performance advancements at the conference. The new release includes support for innovative new features including Stage Video which delivers much improved video performance through optimizing hardware acceleration on mobile devices, desktops and TVs. Stage Video decreases processor and memory usage while enabling higher frame rates and improved video quality. Test results show up to 80 percent CPU savings when playing back video in 1080p on Windows and Mac OS. Stage Video support for mobile devices will be available on Android 3.0 Honeycomb and BlackBerry Tablet OS. Existing H.264 video content on the Web will benefit from Stage Video on mobile platforms without any changes to the content.
A key element of the Adobe Flash Platform, AIR enables developers to leverage existing code to create and deliver standalone applications across devices and platforms. Adobe AIR supports smartphones and tablets based on Android, iOS, BlackBerry Tablet OS and desktops including Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems.Samsung is the first television manufacturer to ship Adobe AIR in its line of Samsung SmartTV devices. With Adobe AIR developers are able to use familiar tools including Adobe Flash Professional CS5, Adobe Flash Builder and Flex to build rich standalone multiscreen applications. Thousands are already available on Android Market, Apple’s App Store, Adobe InMarket and Intel AppUpSM center today.Adobe AIR enables rich application experiences through a series of features including support for accelerometer, camera, video, microphone, multi-touch and gestures. Support for geolocation allows developers to create location-based applications and services. AIR is also able to display native browser controls within the application allowing for the integration of HTML and .SWF content. With SQLite support developers can easily store and cache databases inside an AIR application.
One of the top free apps on Android Market with more than 6 million downloads to date and more than 150,000 users giving it a 4.5-out-of-5 star rating.Flash Player brings rich Flash based content to mobile devices inside the browser. In addition to Android Market, the runtime is distributed directly by device manufacturers and operators via pre-installs and operating system upgrades.Flash Player is available today on Android, HP webOS and Google TV. BlackBerry Tablet OS, future versions of Windows Phone, LiMo, Samsung SmartTVs and others are also expected to support Flash Player. For a list of certified devices, visit http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/supported_devices/smartphones.html.
