Flash Devices
Flash enabled phones: 89 Nokia, 75 Sony Ericsson, 19 Verizon, 150 NTT DoCoMo, 111 KDDI, 60 Softbank
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Removal of the Free Flash Player for Pocket PC: Updated Information
There's been some discussion in the community about the recent removal of the free Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC download and I wanted to provide more details as to why it was removed from the Macromedia mobile and devices developer site. You can read all about it here but to summarize the main points:
  • The free Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC was created and tested on Pocket PC 2003 OS devices back in 2003. Because of changes to the operating system and hardware of new devices, Macromedia cannot guarantee that Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC will work consistently when playing Flash content.
  • The Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC Distribution Kit (previously known as the Standalone Flash Player for Pocket PC) is meant for developers to distribute their content with the Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC to end-users. Because of this ability Macromedia sells the Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC Distribution Kit for $499.
  • Macromedia's approach since 2001 has been to work closely with OEMs and partners so that they pre-install Flash Player on their devices.
If you have any additional questions about this please send them to mobile developer at macromedia.com and someone will reply within 24 hours.

7 comments

Kiss the asses of those who have bought licensing for the player (The user experience on HP and Toshiba devices is far superior to other Pocket PC devices). It's weak to take that stance based on a business relationship. I want to see Macromedia back that up with some facts.

It's about money. They are a business and this is understandable, but lest they forget what their main source of income is???

Developers that buy the tools... Developers that convince clients that Flash is a good move, because they have faith in the stability of the platform. This decision lands a blow squarely on the jaw of the developer. And I, for one, have significantly less faith in the Flash platform than I did before this announcement. I have little faith that Macromedia won't do the same to the PC plug-in in the coming months...

I'm going to be investing time in Avalon research. It may well be what I recommend to clients (instead of Flash) from here on in -- at least for Windows clients, that's what we are talking about with PPC anyway. And Java is smelling pretty. Have I found a company that I like less than Microsoft for its business practices? Yes I have.

By Anonymous Anonymous , at Fri Oct 07, 06:43:00 AM PDT  

Wow! This is incredible. They can't guarantee the stability of a free downlowd but with $499 is the stability is back! I'm sure it's all the fault of the extra code to make it a plugin!!!!
I guess Adobe is more greedy than Macromedia!

By Anonymous Anonymous , at Fri Oct 07, 07:34:00 AM PDT  

I'm disappointed that Macromedia has seemingly abandoned the PocketPC market. From what I understand, there are no plans to update the PPC SAP to anything beyond V6, and now this. I have developed an application for rich-media handheld tour guides, and Flash Lite on a cell phone does not by any means fit what we are needing to do. What kind of assurances can you give that our significant investment will not have to be thrown away if/when Macromedia drops support entirely for the PocketPC?

By Anonymous Nathan Derksen , at Fri Oct 07, 09:43:00 PM PDT  

We want to continue supporting developers who are creating Flash content for a wide range of platforms - including Pocket PCs. It's important that we listen to what the developer community says and to provide information and resources when possible. Just so you know we're actively listening to the discussion around the recent removal of the free FP6 for PPC download from our site and may have more information to share soon.

By Blogger Bill , at Sun Oct 09, 02:43:00 PM PDT  

hello.....

can anyone help me enter data into mysql database
from a flash form using coldfusion components ?

i'm using web services and simply want to pass data from my flash form to my cfc while staying in flash...

any actionscript (or coldfusion code 'cfc') that anyone could provide or even links to other ressources on this specific topic would be awesome...

if someone could help me with this process i would be greatful.....

thank you in advance...

Imran Hashmi
http://www.visionstudio.co.uk

By Blogger Ian Hash ( ) , at Thu Nov 03, 04:22:00 PM PST  

Dudes, its all free again!

Check out the site.

I've developed many apps so far and didn't pay a cent. Its all about licensing and distribution. You pay the $500. for the right to distributing the player with your app. I don't bother. I just distribute without licenses and paying. Who cares? I've got no money to use for anyhow! I doubt other artists/developers are that rich either. . . LET US CREATE! Don't charge money for the right to use a paint brush. . . .. .
Corporate America will have a hand in your pocket . .. I don't mean a friendly game of pocket pool either. . . .

By Anonymous Anonymous , at Wed Jun 14, 12:40:00 PM PDT  

Can Someone tell me what kind of Flash player is needed for PSP

By Anonymous Anonymous , at Wed Oct 10, 10:30:00 AM PDT  

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