Opinions on the multimedia capabilities of the iPhone vary widely. On one side, some users desperately lament the absence of support for Adobe Flash. On the other, there is the view that Apple’s Steve Jobs is right, and that Flash is not up to the job of supporting such a sophisticated handset, and therefore subscribers get a better all-round experience from the iPhone, even if some content is off-limits. Now it seems Apple is developing its own platform to bypass Flash, using a technology called SproutCore, while Adobe is working on Flash emulation for the new iPhone.
Whichever line you take, this is becoming an epic stand-off that is as much to do with industry politics as user functionality ‘ both Apple and Adobe are in the front row of vendors that aim to drive the agenda for mobile internet standards, along with Microsoft, Nokia and Yahoo. Adobe, which has recently upgraded Flash Lite and announced a plan for a unified platform for developers that bridges the PC and phone, has also founded the Open Screen Initiative to increase backing for Flash to become a standard on all advanced handsets.
It has powerful allies, not least Nokia, and Sony Ericsson, which recently set up Project Capuchin to work on techniques to bring together Java and Flash on mobile platforms. But Microsoft remains ambivalent ‘ supporting Flash reluctantly on its mobile systems but also pushing the rival claims of its Silverlight system. And of course, Apple remains stubbornly aloof.
This proliferation of rich media and video streaming capabilities is certainly driving innovation and creating new choices for end users at a rapid rate. But it is also creating confusion among developers, who would rather build to a single platform and deliver to all smartphones, and risks denying some users important functions.
Adobe, of course, is desperate to come to a truce with Apple. This week, CEO Shantanu Narayen was asked whether Flash would make an appearance in the imminent 3G iPhone, though Apple has already said not, at least in the first generation. Narayen said on an analyst call: ‘With respect to the iPhone, we are working on it. We have a version that’s working on the emulation. This is still on the computer and you know, we have to continue to move it from a test environment onto the device and continue to make it work. So we are pleased with the internal progress that we’ve made to date.’
In other words, Adobe wants Flash to be included in the iPhone, but is not full of hope, and in the meantime will just have to offer these capabilities via emulation, a far more clumsy option for developers and users. Adobe has the difficult task of making Flash iPhone-friendly enough to lure Apple, without compromising its promise of being a single product, consistent across all handsets, and eventually the PC too. And it faces the even more difficult task of coming to a political agreement with Apple that will enable both companies to pursue a pole position in the mobile internet market, without treading on one another’s powerful but sensitive toes.
In the mean time, Apple itself is working with SproutCore, an open source Javascript framework that should be powering the new suite of MobileMe applications for the new iPhone. This suggests that it is trying to build its own rich internet applications system, bypassing Adobe, based on its Safari browser, SproutCore multimedia, QuickTime and H.264. Apple says it does not want to be locked into one standard for rich media and that Flash does not fulfil all the requirements of the iPhone’s more demanding users.