In their push to bring Adobe Flash support to the OMAP-wielding handsets of the world, Adobe as announced at CTIA Wireless 2009 Las Vegas that they will be collaborating with Texas Instruments (TI) to optimize the Adobe® Flash® Player and Adobe AIR® components of Adobe’s Flash platform for use with TI’s OMAP-based mobile processors. With the prevalence of smartphones on market powered by TI’s OMAP processors, Adobe’s move to optimize their Flash technology to work seamlessly on the OMAP mobile platform is sure to increase Flash penetration into the mobile space.
Adobe recently announced that they are working on a mobile-optimized Flash Player 10 that will be available as a pre-release on many smartphone platforms this summer, with a commercial roll-out aimed at the first quarter of 2010. By working directly with one of the world’s leading mobile chipmakers, Adobe can ensure that future versions of Adobe Flash and Adobe AIR an deliver an uncompromising browsing and multimedia experience on a mobile phone. And, by taking advantage of the OMAP platform’s hardware video acceleration, Adobe expects high-end graphics and video performance with lower power consumption – a definite plus for mobile devices.
With Adobe’s Flash and AIR technologies fully ported to mobile platforms, it’s only going to be a matter of time before we start seeing specific Flash media targeted at the mobile space. Forget mobile-optimized websites, we’re going to soon start seeing Flash-based websites running freely on smartphones. This should be exciting!
Full press release after the jump.
Adobe and Texas Instruments Bring Flash and AIR to OMAP™ Platform
LAS VEGAS – (Business Wire) At the CTIA Wireless conference, Adobe Systems and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) today announced a technology collaboration to optimize Adobe® Flash® Player and Adobe AIR®, two key components of the Adobe Flash Platform, for the TI OMAP™ mobile applications platform. TI’s collaboration with Adobe will allow manufacturers and developers to fully leverage the benefits of the OMAP platform to reduce time to market while increasing performance and reducing power on devices. A pre-release of the optimized Adobe Flash Player 10 for devices is expected to be available to manufacturers this summer with an official production release expected in Q1 2010. OMAP solutions supporting the pre-release of Adobe Flash Player are expected to be available for manufacturers and developers in the second half of 2009.
This engagement furthers TI’s long standing commitment to supporting Flash technology and will make it easier for manufacturers to enable uncompromised web browsing on their devices. It also lets them quickly update and run Flash technology based third-party content and applications while reducing time to market on smartphones, mobile Internet devices (MIDs) and other mobile computing devices. TI will also provide Adobe Flash technology support on the Zoom™ OMAP34x-II Mobile Development Platform (MDP), with future support for additional planned OMAP processor-based reference platforms, allowing developers to create rich, Flash technology based content that enhances the overall user experience for a variety of markets. By optimizing Flash technology for the OMAP solution, manufacturers and developers can fully exploit offerings of the platform when accessing content developed with Flash technology. For example, leveraging the OMAP platform’s hardware acceleration capabilities allows for improved video and graphics performance at lower power.
“Adobe Flash is the leading platform for rich applications, content, and video on the web today and this collaboration is an important step towards bringing web content and complete Internet experiences to mobile devices,” said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “Mobile users expect to access their favorite content anywhere, at any time, and much of that content is based on Adobe Flash technology. The work with TI on the OMAP platform and the Zoom OMAP34x-II MDP will help deliver these rich experiences to a new range of devices, including smartphones and MIDs, worldwide.”
“Archos has always led the way in providing an uncompromised web browsing experience on its Internet Media Tablets,” said Henri Crohas, CEO and founder of Archos. “As Flash based videos and content keep on dominating the web, Archos will support again the latest Adobe Flash technology on its 2009 devices, leveraging TI’s OMAP platform.”
“TI has a long standing history of shipping devices with Flash technology and we are pleased to incorporate 10 for devices and Adobe AIR into our portfolio, enabling our customers to deliver a desktop-compatible Internet browsing experience on the OMAP platform,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, vice president and general manager for TI’s OMAP Platform Business Unit. “The collaboration allows our customers and partners to advance the user experience, expanding the accessibility of Flash technology from the PC to the mobile environment. This ability will open the door for the creation of new smartphone, MID and other OMAP processor-based devices that deliver full Internet browsing functionality without sacrificing power consumption, performance or cost.”
As an innovator of hardware, software and power management technology for smartphones, MIDs, and other consumer technologies, TI also participates in the Open Screen Project, a broad industry initiative to deliver a consistent runtime environment across devices. Announced in May 2008, the initiative is dedicated to enabling web content, standalone applications and uncompromised web browsing across televisions, desktops, mobile devices and other consumer electronics that take advantage of capabilities of the Adobe Flash Platform, including Adobe Flash Player and AIR. For more information, visit www.openscreenproject.org.
About Flash Platform
The Adobe Flash Platform is a complete system of integrated tools, frameworks, clients and servers for the development of web applications, content and video that runs consistently across operating systems and devices. Adobe AIR, which enables developers to use proven web technologies to build applications that extend outside the browser, and
Adobe Flash Player are key components of the Adobe Flash Platform.
Adobe Flash Player content reaches over 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops, and Adobe Flash technology is the number one platform for video on the web. In addition, the mobile runtime has shipped and delivered Flash technology based content on close to 40 percent of all new mobile phones and devices in 2008. For more information about the Adobe Flash Platform visit www.adobe.com/flashplatform.
About Adobe Systems
Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.
About
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through manufacturing, design and sales operations in more than 25 countries. For more information, go to www.ti.com.
© 2009 Adobe Systems
Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Flash, Flash Player and Adobe AIR are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems
Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. OMAP is a trademark of
Texas Instruments. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.