Apple’s Finickiness on Flash May Help Microsoft
Apple’s Finickiness on Flash May Help Microsoft
SAN FRANCISCO – Bad news for Adobe may mean a victory for Microsoft , if Apple CEO Steve Jobs throws his company’s support behind Microsoft’s Silverlight technology on Thursday.
Comments from the Apple chief executive late Tuesday that Adobe’s Flash player in its current form would not be welcome on the iPhone leaves the door wide open for the iPhone to support Microsoft’s Silverlight software.
Adobe’s Flash enables much of the video posted on the Internet.
Apple is already expected to announce support for Microsoft’s Exchange email program on the iPhone on Thursday when it releases a software development kit (SDK).
Adobe shares dropped 65 cents, or 2%, to $32.42 Wednesday on Jobs’ dismissal of Flash for the iPhone. Adobe’s Flash software is written for large devices, like laptops, making video performance on the iPhone too slow, Jobs reportedly said. Developers were expecting the SDK to provide support for the widely used Flash player, but Jobs suggested a modified version of Flash is needed.
But Adobe has been shipping its Flash Lite 3 software since December. It supports mobile devices from Nokia and SonyEricsson, among others, according to Adobe.
All major handset makers license Adobe’s Flash, including Nokia, Samsung, LG Electronics, Motorola and SonyEricsson, Adobe said in a statement. More than 450 million Flash-enabled mobile devices have shipped worldwide so far.
Also on Wednesday, Microsoft and Nokia demonstrated Silverlight on a smartphone, one of at least two series of Nokia phones that will incorporate the multimedia software, the mobile device maker announced. And Microsoft said it will deliver a version of Silverlight for its Windows Mobile software and will support Silverlight on the Symbian operating system for smart phones.
Directions on Microsoft analyst Paul DeGroot said it would be premature for Apple to support Silverlight on the iPhone, at least until a more sophisticated version is fully released. On Wednesday, Microsoft announced the beta version of Silverlight 2. “The initial implementation is somewhat limited. It would not be a good idea to get Steve Jobs to ship that on iPhone. He may want to wait for the more mature version,” DeGroot said.
Microsoft doesn’t need Apple’s permission to put Silverlight on iPhones, but it would be a big advantage to Microsoft if it were shipped by default on the device, DeGroot said.
“Microsoft, like a lot of people, has been stunned by success of iPhone,” DeGroot said. While Microsoft has worked for five years to build and create a market for its Windows Mobile software, “Apple did it almost overnight.”
But Silverlight “has to be everywhere that Flash is,” DeGroot said. Microsoft has demonstrated its willingness to support competing mobile operating systems to ensure the success of its advanced media player software. “The fact that they’re putting it on Symbian may suggest they are being realistic about this.”
The real reasons for Jobs’ dissing of Flash may be a history of bad blood between Adobe and Apple, as well as alliances each has already struck: In the U.S., Apple’s mobile partner for the iPhone is AT&T while Adobe has a partnership with Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of Verizon and Vodafone .
Source :- The Street News