Microsoft's License of Adobe Flash Lite for Mobile Devices is Good for Consumers

Yesterday morning, Adobe (ADBE) announced that Microsoft (MSFT) had licensed Adobe's Flash Lite software so that Flash based content will be able to be viewed within Internet Explorer on future versions of Microsoft Windows mobile phones.

While Flash Lite itself does not play back video, rather the device plays the video and Flash Lite acts as the container, this is still a step forward in the right direction. With Adobe saying that half a billion mobile devices shipped with Flash Lite, and Microsoft willing to license Flash Lite from Adobe to make the content experience better, the bottom line is that the consumer is the winner in this deal.

If only Apple (AAPL) and Adobe would come to some kind of arrangement and make Flash video work on the iPhone, consumers would really win. My hope is that Microsoft and Apple come to a deal to allow Silverlight to work on the iPhone. But after Steve Ballmer's comments earlier in the month from the MIX 08 conference, it does not appear this will be happening anytime soon.

Comments

[Azazello:]

It is TOTALLY great so that you can watch animated advertisement! Awesome!!!!!

2008 Mar 18 08:40 AM

[Tom B:]

Azazello is dead on. Flash has its uses, but I estimate that over 90% of the time, those "uses" involve annoying the "User". Given that the iPhone can run YouTube without Flash, you've eliminated Flash's number one, most legitimate purpose.

2008 Mar 18 09:06 AM

[DickM:]

My understanding of this is that Apple has already examined Flash (don't know about Flashlite), and rejected it because it is an energy hog. I agree also about annoying advertisements that will then pop up all the time, using bandwidth, slowing everything down to a crawl, and - producing a lousy user experience. So, who really needs this? Users? or advertisers who are pressuring to pump their junk onto your phone - and you have no way out of this mess.

2008 Mar 18 11:12 AM

[FreeRange:]

You are kidding right? Why in the world would Apple want Silverlight on the iPhone. In fact, why would anyone use Silverlight - another attempt by MS to put a competitor out of business by using their dominant market position. I wonder if MS, in their agreement with Adobe, put a clause in that Adobe can't port Flash Lite to the iPhone, a tactic they have used often in the past. (A fact well documented in the antitrust action against MS.) The marketplace should boycott Silverlight.

2008 Mar 18 11:18 AM

[Tom B:]

"The marketplace should boycott Silverlight."

Apple should simply create a 3rd alternative which blows away both. With the popularity of WebKit (Safari), and the fact that most web developers are Mac users, they could do it.

2008 Mar 18 11:45 AM

[User 206176:]

Why don't we follow standards? You can create websites with rich experiences almost as powerful as Flash or Silverlight with XHTML and JavaScript. If you need an experience that only Flash can offer, then use Flash! Microsoft's attempt to "beat" everyone is ruining their ability to succeed at their core business. It is starting their long, slow decline into complete irrelevance (like IBM).

2008 Jun 06 11:47 AM