Today we announced the Adobe Open Screen Project which is dedicated to ensuring a consistent rich Internet experience across a broad range of digital screens and form factors including mobile phones, consumer electronics, televisions and personal computers. This experience will be driven by Adobe Flash Player and in the future Adobe AIR and is meant to ensure that designers and developers can focus on the consumer experience and know there efforts will scale across different platforms and screens. Simply put the mission of the Open Screen Project is meant to enable a consistent runtime environment for designers and developers across desktops and devices.

Ryan Stewart has some great thoughts about what this means for the desktop space and below are my impressions of what this means for the non-PC space and developers.

Who’s involved
In order for the Open Screen Project to be successful we need the support of companies that believe in this unified vision of the future. These companies include leading chipset vendors, device manufacturers, operators and media companies – all intent to help deliver consistent rich internet applications across a broad range of devices and desktops. These are the initial companies that are involved with the project and we expect other companies will want to join.

• Adobe
• ARM
• BBC
• Chungwha Telecom
• Cisco
• Intel
• LG Electronics
• Marvell
• Motorola
• MTV Networks
• NBC Universal
• Nokia
• NTT DoCoMo
• Qualcomm
• Samsung Electronics
• Sony Ericsson
• Toshiba
• Verizon Wireless

Flash and Adobe AIR to be Free
To support this project we will be opening access to more of our core technologies to help enable web innovation and include these initiatives:

• Removing restrictions on the use of the SWF and FLV/F4V specifications
• Publishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe Flash Player
• Removing licensing fees – making next major releases of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices free
• Publishing the Adobe Flash Cast protocol and AMF protocol for robust data services

Converging PC and non-PC experiences
Over the past month I’ve traveled to Tokyo, Seoul and New York City and what I hear when talking to various groups of people including device manufacturers, operators, media companies, developers and consumers is how more an more the experience is becoming the key differentiator when consuming content. By us driving the Open Screen Project and working with some of the leading companies in their respected fields, we have a goal to make this happen. I’m really excited about this project and given the companies we have committed so far, our technology roadmap and leading tools for designing, developing and testing applications and content it’s a win-win situation for everyone.

What should mobile developers do
Keep on creating the types of experiences and content you already do for mobile phones using CS3, Device Central and other tools for development and testing. The key thing you should take away from the Open Screen Project is Adobe is committed to providing a consistent runtime across a wide range of devices including personal computers so continuing to build your skills now to develop Flash Lite applications will be part of the future growth opportunities for you and your clients as Flash and Adobe AIR are supported on non-PC devices.

It’s true that today desktop developers can use Flex and Flash to create web content and Adobe AIR applications and mobile developers can use Flash to create Flash Lite content for supported handsets. In the near future desktop developers will be able to use their skills for creating Flash and Adobe AIR applications for more than just desktop PCs. What will improve will be the workflow and output options for Flash and Adobe AIR applications and for us that’s important – to ensure that designers and developers have the best tools so they can focus on the experience.

Types of non-PC devices
One of the main benefits to OSP is the ability for us to provide to designers and developers a runtime environment that works across a wide range of non-PC devices, in addition to the PC space. I use the term “non-PC” often but to give you some context these are some of the types of devices we’re looking to support in the future:

• mobile phones
• mobile internet tablets (MIDs)
• set top boxes
• televisions

Over 1 billion devices by 2009
We’ve updated our device forecast and expect that by 2009 there will be over 1 billion devices that will have shipped that support Flash technologies. Previously we stated that we would reach this number by 2010 – so this is more good news for the Open Screen Project and shows the explosive growth of Flash technologies in mobile phones.

Next steps
If you’re a developer and have read this you’re probably starting to envision a very cool future where you’re able to extend your applications beyond just the desktop and for me that’s the future. I’ve only touched on some of the high-level points here and there certainly will be more news coverage about this initiative over the next few days and weeks. If you have any questions about this please leave a comment here and I’ll answer them.

You can read more about the Open Screen Project here as well as an FAQ.

As many of you are aware, yesterday we gave our 2008 Q1 investor relations call and during the Q&A session a question was asked to our CEO Shantanu Narayen about Flash and the iPhone.

The conference call has now been posted in its entirety on the Adobe investor relations site:

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/invrelations/08q1analyst/earnings_confcall.html

Shantanu’s comments were in response to a question at about 7:04 in slide 20 (the Q&A portion of the call). Here's the transcript:

"Well, you know, we really believe that Flash is synonymous with the Internet and frankly anybody who wants to browse the Web and experience the Web in all its glory really needs Flash support. I mean, we were very excited about the announcement from Windows mobile adoption of Flash on their devices and the fact that we've shipped a half billion devices now, non-PC devices -- so we're also committed to bringing the Flash experience to the iPhone and we'll work with Apple. We've evaluated the SDK we can now start to develop the Flash Player ourselves. And, we think it benefits our joint customers so we want to work with Apple to bring that capability to the device."

Given the lively discussion around this statement over the past day there have been a lot of assumptions made that are not true and I thought I’d share some facts. Here’s the real info that you should be aware of about Flash on the iPhone:

1. We've played around with the iPhone SDK since it was introduced and think we can now begin development on delivering Flash Player on the iPhone.

2. More work needs to be done with Apple however, as the SDK and the license associated with it doesn't enable us to bring the full Flash experience on the iPhone's Safari web brower.

3. We know lots of iPhone users are wanting Flash. Adobe's goal is to make Flash as ubiquitous as possible, so that means delivering Flash to as many platforms as we can. Much to everyone's surprise we announced on Monday that Flash was coming to the Windows Mobile Platform. So if we can do it with Microsoft, we're certainly hoping that it's not that complex for Flash to make it to the iPhone.

This is what I can say today and I’m sure you have questions around what version of Flash, when it will be available, how consumers will get it, etc… We don’t have answers for these or other questions but be assured that once we do we’ll share more details. As always post any comments and I’ll answer.

There's a new 7 page Flash Lite feature comparison chart (PDF) that compares all of the features and supported ActionScript commands and APIs against the most recent desktop Flash player versions. Information like media support, APIs, system requirements and text support are included.

It provides information on the following Flash/Flash Lite players:

• Flash Lite 1.1
• Flash Lite 2.1
• Flash Lite 3
• Flash Player 7 SDK
• Flash Player 8
• Flash Player 9
  

This is useful if you're a desktop Flash developer who's interested in creating Flash Lite content and want to better understand what features of the desktop Flash player are compatible. It's very handy and what I've done is printed it out and posted it in my cube to easily look up information without having to open up the help files, go to a site or ask someone.

There's one more new mobile and devices development center that we've pushed live today, and it's for the Sony PSP. Here you can find information about how to make sure you have the Flash Player installed and enabled on your PSP as well as some technical information about the implementation and supported features of the Flash Player 6 for the Sony PSP.

If there's a specific article or topic you'd like to have covered please leave a comment and we'll see what we can do.

As you might have already heard, yesterday Sony has released ROM update 2.70 for the PSP and included in the update is Flash Player 6 - this is awesome news. The Flash Player 6 is enabled only through the web browser so in order to view SWF files they can be either embedded in HTML pages (just like desktop web pages) or just viewed as SWFs.

After you've downloaded and installed the ROM update (either download through the web or the PSP network update feature) you will be able to view SWF content.

If you're a developer interested in what features of Flash Player 6 are supported I've compiled an official list here (this information will be posted on the Adobe Mobile and Devices developer center in the near future).

/// Flash Player Version
(6,0,72,27)

/// Supported Input and Output
Mouse
Analog stick and the Enter button work as one-button mouse.
Pointer movement, click and drag & drop features are supported.
Keyboard
The directional keys work as the up, down, left, right cursor keys of a keyboard.
Character Input
Supports character input in the text boxes using the on-screen keyboard.
Font
Supports device font. The applicable scope of the font size and style are same as the Internet Browser.
Sound
Supports PCM, ADPCM and MP3 audio/sound playback for the speaker and headphone.

/// Unsupported Features
Clipboard
Text copy, cut and paste features are not supported.
Video
The playback of video data such as H.263, Sorenson Video or Motion JPEG is not supported.
Context menu
Context menu display, control or the features that are normally included in them are not supported.
Printing
Print out feature is not supported.
Live Connect
The communication feature between JavaScript and Flash Player plug-ins is not supported.
FCS/FMS (Flash Communication Server and Flash Media Server)
A connection to FCS/FMS, or features that requires it are not supported.
XMLSocket
Continuous connection and communication with the server using the XMLSocket feature is not supported.
Transparent background display
Displaying the background in transparent by specifying the wmode to “transparent” is not supported.

/// Known Issues
• Frame rate between 18-24 fps, depending on type of content.
• Large size Flash contents cannot be played. The size of the content in a page should be within 1.5 MB approximately.
• The timing for external file loading may be different from PCs. Load completion must be confirmed.
• The device font has 5 sizes, same as the Internet Browser. The layout used for PCs may not be available.
• The mouseout event may not occur when the pointer gets out of the content if objects are arranged on the edge of the content field.
• Restrictions when deep nesting occurs with ActionScript are different from PCs.

On your PSP you can take a look at a FPS speedometer Richard Leggett put on his web site to get a better idea of how Flash content will perform.

If you have any questions about the Flash Player 6 for PSP you can post them in the Adobe Flash Handhelds Mobile and Devices forum.

Several people have contacted me about having difficulties installing the Flash Player 7 for Pocket PC onto their devices. Unlike the FP6 for PPC which was a desktop .exe file, the FP7 for PPC is a CAB file that can be installed directly on your PPC.

Here's what you need to do:

1) Uninstall the FP6 from your PPC
2) Remove the FP6 for PPC installer from ActiveSync
3) Restart your PPC
4) Copy the FP7 for PPC CAB file to your PPC
5) Double click the CAB file to install directly onto your PPC
6) View SWF content ;o)

I'm pleased to announce that the new Flash Player 7 for Pocket PC ActiveX plug-in is now available for download!

Flash Player for Pocket PC enables developers and publishers to quickly and easily deploy Flash content and rich internet applications for Windows Mobile 5 and Pocket PC 2003 devices. Key features include:

• Web browsing compatibility
• Flash Player 7 support
• Action Script 2 support
• XML socket support
• Web services and SOAP API

You can also check out the following pages for more information:

• Flash Player 7 for Pocket PC Home Page
• Pocket PC Developer Page
• FAQ

The Flash Player 7 Pocket PC Distribution Kit (including the standalone player) and Content Development Kit are currently under development. We'll have more information available in the future about these items.

So what are you waiting for, go and download the player ;o) If you have any questions please post them here and I'll reply.

When I first started developing mobile Flash content it was with the developers release of Flash Player 4 for Pocket PC back in 2001. Since then Macromedia has released a version 5 and currently a version 6 of the Pocket PC Player and there has been an increase in the developer community for creating or porting Flash applications to the Pocket PC (Windows Mobile) platform.

So I have a question for those of you who currently are using version 6 of the Pocket PC Player, would you be interested in a version 7 of the Pocket PC Player? If so, leave a comment of how you would use the features of version 7 in your applications.

I want to clarify that a version 7 of the Pocket PC Player is not available today; we're trying to find more information from the developer community.

More good news today from Adobe, you can read about it via the official Adobe press release or through other sites.

As of today we are making the free Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC download available for developers again.

Here's a summary of what's transpired over the past week...

On October 3 we decided to remove the free Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC from our site for various reasons. After doing so, however, you—our developer community—let us know that you were not happy with the decision. You gave us your feedback by contacting us directly, expressing your opinions in our forums and other Pocket PC developer forums. Some of you spoke with me directly about this topic. Thanks to everyone who voiced concerns and contacted us. We appreciate your feedback and perspective, and most importantly, we appreciate your taking the time to let us know.

The developer community as a whole is very important to us, and it's essential for us to listen to your requests and provide the best resources and support we can to help you focus on expressing your ideas using our technologies.

You can read more about it here.