last100 » Windows Mobile

Adobe Flash seen running on Palm Pre – Netbooks, MIDs, and other smartphones also set to win (iPhone aside)

Steve O'Hear — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:30:12 +0000

Adobe has long talked up its ambition to have Flash running on all manner of screens, not just the humble PC, and today the company got a lot closer to walking the walk not just talking.

Through the Open Screen Project, Adobe was already known to be working with smartphone platforms from Palm (WebOS), Nokia (Symbian) and Microsoft (Windows Mobile), along with a raft of content providers, chip makers and consumer electronics companies. Today, the company added Google and Research In Motion to the list, with relation to Android and Blackberry-powered smartphones respectively, leaving Apple’s iPhone as the odd one out regarding planned support for full Flash (or any Flash support at all).

Historically, Apple has always defended iPhone’s lack of Flash support by arguing that it’s too processor and power intensive, and that the cut down mobile version of Flash (Flash Lite) just isn’t up to the job. With Moore’s Law kicking in (faster smartphone processors) and Adobe working hard to optimize Flash for the latest mobile chips, this argument is holding less and less water. In the video demo below, we can see Flash performing pretty well on Palm’s Pre smartphone, a device that shares much under the hood with the latest iPhone 3GS.

Instead, as I’ve argued previously, Apple has a very different motive for keeping Adobe Flash away from the iPhone.

… as we all should know by now, the real reason why Apple doesn’t want to embrace Adobe’s Flash is that it would offer third-party developers an alternative “runtime” on which to develop and, perhaps more importantly, distribute apps for the iPhone, bypassing Apple’s control (and that of its partner carriers) and the iTunes App Store itself. And we can’t have that, can we?

The other big win for the Open Screen Project are the latest Netbooks and future MIDS (Mobile Internet Devices) or so-called smartbooks, reports Engadget. “Flash 10.1 will take advantage of GPU acceleration on a number of key mobile platforms, including both nVidia’s Tegra and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon alongside ION for smooth (well, theoretically smooth) 720p and 1080p video on the latest generation of netbooks and smartbooks.”

Where all of this leaves Microsoft’s own Flash competitor Silverlight on mobile is anybody’s guess, although probably not in the best of shape. While Nokia is partnering with Redmond to bring Silverlight support to Symbian, Microsoft itself is simultaneously supporting Flash for Windows Mobile, such is the anbundance of exciting Flash-powered content on the Web.

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Google vs Microsoft? Forget Chrome OS (for now) and keep your eye on Android and Win Mobile

Steve O'Hear — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 14:57:29 +0000

Forget Chrome OS versus Windows (for now), there’s another Google / Microsoft battle taking place right in front of our eyes and Google’s winning. No, I’m not talking search. That war is over and Google was victorious a long time ago. I’m talking mobile. Android versus Windows Mobile to be precise, where Redmond is looking a little vulnerable to say the least.

Tech pundits like to talk endlessly about how Apple’s iPhone has shaken up the industry and that’s undeniable. But Android is a slow burner — don’t get fooled by the pig of a phone that was the T-Mobile G1 — the Google-led mobile OS is only now beginning to show its true potential. It’s not that consumers are flocking to Andriod — yet — it’s that handset makers right across the board are. And prior to Android, many of those handset makers were more than willing participants in Microsoft’s Windows Mobile eco-system. Less so now.

It’s been reported that HTC, the biggest manufacturer of Win Mobile devices, will by end of 2009 have moved 30% of its device lineup to Android, and by 2010 around half of new handsets released by the company will be powered by the Google-led OS. Part of the reason is that Android is free to license unlike Windows Mobile in which Microsoft gets a kick back for every phone sold. And part of the reason is the flexibility of the OS itself.

When I reviewed the HTC Touch Diamond, a flagship device at the time, I gave props to the company’s attempt at putting a more friendly consumer-oriented User Interface on top of the dated Windows Mobile but noted the limitations of this approach. Instead, I suggested that HTC would be better off looking for a new OS partner or building one of their own. Android was my recommended solution.

Almost a year on and it seems that the Google-led OS does indeed address the needs of HTC: A solid and free foundation on which the company can build on top to differentiate itself from the rest of the market through software and the User Experience.

Here’s what Horace Luke, the Chief Innovative Officer at HTC, told T3 upon unveiling the HTC Hero, its most customized Android device to date:

Android is very flexible. Windows Mobile was great with development tools, it can do lots of powerful things. But Android allows you to make changes from the top to the bottom layer.

There are three classes of Android phone: the first was the Google-branded phones, the G1 and Magic; the Hero is the first in the second category, in which we added our own customised UI, but we didn’t change everything because they did some great things, like push email, integrating Google Maps etc; and the third is the quick and dirty Chinese knockoffs that won’t work with Marketplace. They’re Linux phones, really…

The hardware is only a small part of the user experience, the UI brings it alive.

And it’s not just HTC that is seeing the potential of building a custom user interface on top of Android’s strong ‘out of the box’ foundations. Sony Ericsson is set to bring an Andriod-powered device to market under its previously Windows Mobile ‘Xperia’ brand, custom UI and all.

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Flash 10 coming to smartphones this October? Apple and RIM still missing in action

Steve O'Hear — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:26:53 +0000

It seems that Adobe is well on track to deliver a version of Flash 10 for smartphones, with the first beta release due this October. Adobe President and CEO Shantanu Naraye said as much during the company’s latest earnings call, as well as revealing that “multiple partners have already received early versions of this release…”.

Naraye then goes on to name names, citing Android, Nokia’s Symbian, Windows Mobile and Palm’s WebOS as among the first smartphones to “support web browsing with the newsest Flash player.”

Missing in action is RIM’s BlackBerry and, less surprising, Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch devices. Apple’s official line has always been that the full version of Flash player – not the underpowered and less well supported Flash Lite – is too processor intensive to run properly on a smartphone, leading to a significant drain on battery life. However, with the new iPhone 3GS (the “S” stands for speed) that would appear to be less on an issue.

Instead, as we all should know by now, the real reason why Apple doesn’t want to embrace Adobe’s Flash is that it would offer third-party developers an alternative “runtime” on which to develop and, perhaps more importantly, distrubute apps for the iPhone, bypassing Apple’s control (and that of its partner carriers) and the iTunes App Store itself. And we can’t have that, can we? Instead, it’s been reported that Apple may be planning to add support for Flash video in particular through an update to the iPhone’s version of Apple’s QuickTime.

As for why RIM hasn’t jumped on board, well that’s anybody’s guess, although I’d suggest that making a decent web browser for BlackBerry – you know, one that renders HTML properly – should be a priority for RIM over adding the bells and whistles of Flash.

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Who has the most to fear from Palm’s “New-ness”?

Steve O'Hear — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 21:18:23 +0000

Pandora CTO Tom Conrad put it best: “I can’t think of much that’s harder in the world than building a modern, mobile operating system and integrating it with a fantastic piece of hardware”, he tells Palm Info Center.

“We see companies take a swing and miss at this time after time – I really think Palm has hit a home run on this one.”

And Conrad should know.

Not only has his company ported its music streaming and discovery service to over 40 different handsets, “everything from J2ME and Windows Mobile to the iPhone”, but Pandora was also chosen by Palm to get an early hands-on peak at the webOS and Pre and begin bringing their app over to the company’s new platform.

At the same time, Conrad rightfully reminds us that Palm is still very much the underdog. Of course, underdogs should rarely be underestimated.

On that note, who should have the most to fear from Palm’s “New-ness”?

Apple – not

There’s no doubt that Palm have taken many of the iPhone’s best features (finger-friendly UI and capacitive touchscreen) and, at the same time, innovated significantly on top. Here I’m thinking primarily of Palm’s “Synergy” feature, whereby contacts and other user data is pulled in and converged from multiple web sources, along with the webOS approach to multitasking and application alerts.

And yet, there is nothing stopping Apple from doing the same in return by copying Palm’s best innovations and, knowing Cupertino, adding improvements of their own. In the five months until the Pre is likely to hit the streets, I expect Apple to release at least one new device (iPhone nano?), and when the smartphone wars really heat up, Apple has an army strong developer community and marketing budget to match any of its competitors. Not least Palm.

Android – unlikely

Palm says that its aiming for the “fat middle” of the smartphone market, while the Google-led Android mobile OS will likely find its way on all manner of devices. From high end, such as the T-Mobile G1, to cheap entry level smartphones. That’s because Android is open-source and free for handset makers to license. At the same time, it has a heavyweight like Google backing it.

I don’t see Palm, in the short to mid term at least, hurting Android’s chances of success as the Pre will be pitched at a much higher price point than the plethora of Android handsets that should hit the market in 09.

Nokia – possibly

The Finnish giant is just that, a giant (outside of North America anyway). And yet, despite recent improvements, Nokia’s OS is looking a little long in the tooth. That said, the company’s recently announced N97 can’t be matched on hardware specs alone — aside from that old school resistive touchscreen — and it’s in hardware or sheer number of devices where Nokia looks strongest. The company’s strategy has always been to slice up the market and offer a handset or two for each. Palm simply won’t be able to keep up with Nokia’s hardware road map. Not that that stopped the iPhone.

One area where Palm will challenge Nokia is in the two companies’ different approach to web services. Nokia seems determined to build or acquire their own offerings — email, social networking, music and location-based services — while Palm’s Synergy integrates many of the best third-party offerings right into the handset. Admittedly, Nokia’s also doing a bit of this through widgets on the home screen but nowhere near to the level of Palm.

Blackberry – likely

Is Blackberry a one trick pony? It does corporate email brilliantly but is desperate to grab a chunk of the growing consumer smartphone market – just witness its advertising campaign that makes much out of the Blackberry Facebook app. Palm thinks the Pre can dance to the tune of work and social life, especially with its Synergy approach to user data and support for consumer and corporate email. Then there’s that slide out keyboard. Many users moved from a Palm Treo to a Blackberry, might they now return to Palm?

Microsoft – unknown

Microsoft is harder to judge and I’m not sure if they should fear Palm any more than they should fear Apple, Blackberry and, in particular, Android. The company’s strategy with Windows Mobile has always been to support and foster an ecosystem of third-party hardware manufacturers. The question is, as with HTC, will many of those device makers begin to move over to Android since it’s free to license? We also don’t yet know how much Windows Mobile version 7 will addresses the shortcomings of the company’s current mobile OS offering or what impact Microsoft’s purchase of Danger will have. There’s also continued talk of the company building its own device, possibly with a Zune-branded phone.

Who do you think has the most to fear from Palm’s “New-ness”? Let us know in the comments.

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Why didn’t we think of this? Microsoft planning mob app store of its own

Steve O'Hear — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 17:05:05 +0000

The news today that Microsoft is preparing to launch a mobile app store of its own to support the upcoming release of Windows Mobile 7, seems like a no-brainer in light of Apple’s successful offering for the iPhone. So much so that it begs the question: why didn’t they think of it before?

It’s not just a Microsoft issue. Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Palm, for example, also largely leave it to others such as Handango to offer a marketplace for third-party applications.

However, I’d suggest that those aforementioned companies aren’t entirely to blame for not offering their own centralized app store for their respective platforms. Apple has a distinct advantage, at least for now: a single device/platform, as well as success in wresting an unprecedented amount of control from its carrier partners.

One of the most unfriendly and confusing aspects of mobile app stores for platforms such as S60 (Nokia’s smartphone implementation of Symbian) is that they have to cater to different versions of the OS running on various handsets with conflicting screen sizes etc. The result is that often specific apps take an age to be available for the latest devices, if at all. It’s not just a headache for the stores themselves, but painfully so for developers alike. Apple currently has one unified version of its mobile OS with over-the-air updates which, for the timebeing at least, keep parity across the iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPod touch.

As I noted in a recent post entitled ‘The real surprise of the App Store isn’t number of downloads or revenue‘, unlike its competitors, Apple has also been able to establish a direct billing relationship with iPhone customers, a store that sits on the device enabling over-the-air purchases, and no revenue share with carriers. This was previously unheard of in the mobile space, and hopefully will give Apple’s competitors a little more leverage to establish similar arrangements of their own. In fact we’re already seeing this happen with Google’s announcement of their own open marketplace for Android applications.

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