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Nobody’s really holding their breath to see Flash on iPhone, but of all companies, Microsoft might be the one to offer a reasonable alternative. Microsoft UX Platform Manager Brian Goldfarb was demoing Silverlight working on an iPhone to wirelessly stream H.264 video at the Professional Developer Conference ’09. Now, it’s a bit of a mis leading to think Apple and Microsoft are collaborating closely on this project; it’s the Microsoft guys doing the heavy lifting, Apple simply gave the go-ahead. It’s not entirely out of place for Silverlight to be sniffing around platforms other than Windows Mobile, though – they’ve dedicated to Symbian and Maemo, and there’s even rumblings of BlackBerry support.
An additional caveat is that all of the Silverlight rendering is done server-side à la Opera on Microsoft’s IIS servers, so you’ll be waiting quite awhile for buffering and processing before getting the final product on your mobile. Still, there’s progress being made, and if they can make it to iPhone before Adobe does, then I wager a lot of web developers eager to capitalize on the rich Safari mobile browser will happily make the switch.
About The Author
Simon Sage
Simon Sage’s education largely surrounded writing, technology and online community, leading him to begin his blogging career at www.BlackBerryCool.com and to quickly discover a vibrant and active community surrounding BlackBerry and mobile technology. In exploring RIM’s platform, he has learned what enterprises are looking for in mobility as well as what makes the innocuous BlackBerry so appealing to them. Recently Simon’s been covering RIM’s gradual move into an already-crowded consumer market, and the impact of burgeoning challengers, such as the iPhone, as well as long-time leaders, like Nokia, on BlackBerry’s advancement. With plenty of content under his belt, Simon will be branching off a bit to see what other smartphone manufacturers are working on while still using BlackBerry as a barometer. At IntoMobile, you can count on his posts being even-handed, well-informed and thought-out.
