Adobe looks set to strengthen its position as a power broker in the mobile internet world in 2009. The company has already announced ambitious strategies to create software platforms that would span PC and mobile devices, and all the major mobile operating systems. Because of the importance of its Flash technology in the media market, it is also working closely with both sides of the battle to control the processor that goes into next generation mobile internet devices ‘ Intel x86 or ARM. Its strategic relationships with both sides, and their race to outdo one another with the most advanced implementations of technologies like Flash, should accelerate the development of the market and strengthen Adobe’s overall position.
In November, ARM and Adobe announced they would collaborate to optimize both Flash Player 10 and the AIR 1.5 cross-runtime platform ‘ which Adobe aims to establish as a de facto standard by opening APIs through its Open Screen Project ‘ for mobile devices. In particular, the partners would work on API support for graphics chips and hardware accelerators, and lower power consumption. ARM partners like Qualcomm, Texas Instruments and Nvidia are also expected to participate and this could be the breakthrough Adobe needs in making fully blown Flash, rather than the less functional Flash Lite, universal in high end phones, allowing it to storm the Android fortress (Android does not currently support Flash, though Adobe has shown its software working on the Google OS) and even the hostile territory of Apple.
Adobe has been a key ally for ARM in its bid to make its processor architecture, almost universal in conventional cellphones, equally dominant in MIDs and other emerging portable web/media form factors ‘ at the expense of the push by Intel to make x86 the standard in this sector. But the Flash giant knows power lies in spreading its favors, and probably playing one side off against the other, so this week sees it working with Intel to enhance that company’s attempt to create a series of systems-on-chip (SOCs) optimized for various consumer electronic devices, from set-top boxes to media players to MIDs.
The partners are working to port and optimize Flash Player and Flash Lite for the Intel Media Processor CE 3100 (see separate story), promising to support web-based and video viewing though Intel-based set-top boxes, BluRay players, digital TVs and other audiovisual devices. The first CE3100 with the optimized implementation of Flash Lite will ship before mid-year, and the companies are also working on bringing Adobe AIR to the digital home platform, and in future, to other Intel SoCs for mobile and media products. This echoes directly the work that Adobe has underway at ARM, positioning Adobe to make its technologies virtually universal. The ARM deal covers a huge range of potential products, as the processor maker looks to expand its own reach ‘ not just cellphones, but televisions, in-car systems and MIDs. The results of the ARM-Adobe work will appear, initially in smartphones using ARM11 or Cortex-A, before mid-year.