Media Technology: Adobe and Apple Reach a Flash Point

21 June 2010 BOB DOUGHTY:This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty. FAITH LAPIDUS:And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week, we will describe some recent developments in media technology. BOB DOUGHTY:Mobile communications devices could be the testing ground for the next generation of media technology for the World Wide Web. If you ever looked at pictures or video on the Web, you already know Adobe Flash Player. It is a program for playing videos and media that operates on many different Web browsers. Right now, Adobe Flash Player is probably the most common way to watch media on the Internet. But new mobile devices are testing Flash's market position. The research company IDC says fifty-five million smartphones were sold worldwide in the first three months of this year. The handheld devices serve as a telephone and as an e-mail and Web connection. But there is something few of them can do: use Adobe Flash Player. Instead, if you attempt to open a Flash page, you get what has become known as "the blue Lego of death." The little blue sign means that your device cannot open Flash. FAITH LAPIDUS:Smartphones and netbooks have different browsers from those found on personal computers. And, at least for now, few of them can play Flash. Adobe makes Flash and other popular products like Photoshop and Acrobat. The software company has developed Flash Lite, a version of Flash for mobile phones and some other home electronic devices. Adobe is also developing Flash 10.1. It is meant to work with personal computers, smartphones and other devices using different operating systems. BOB DOUGHTY:But Flash will not work with Apple's mobile devices. Recently, Apple chief Steve Jobs criticized Adobe. He said his company's products like the iPhone and iPod Touch will not use Flash in the future. That also means the hugely popular iPad will not use Flash either. Apple says it sold one million iPads in April, the first month it offered the product. Apple says it is going in a different direction when it comes to playing Web video and multimedia. In April, the company changed its licensing agreement with producers of applications for Apple mobile devices. An application is a software program that lets users do a task -- like listen to music or find directions. Now, software companies must make their applications work only with Apple mobile devices. Apple says new multimedia players should be based on a new, more open system. Apple wants a new language for Web page design, called HTML 5. That could mean trouble for media players like Adobe Flash or Microsoft Silverlight. FAITH LAPIDUS:Ian Jacobs is head of communications for W3C, the World Wide Web Consortium. The organization works to establish technology guidelines for the Web. The idea is to create commonly agreed on definitions of Web technologies. That way, new technologies can be developed and will work with existing ones. This supports the goal of having one Web that is open to everybody. Mr. Jacobs says HTML 5 will be able to do many things. He says it will have open rules or standards. And he says the goal is to create licensing agreements that will let people use those standards without cost. Still, there is no guarantee this will happen. HTML 5 is being designed to use video without the need for extra software, like Flash. It will also make other applications easier to build in to Web pages. But, while versions of the new language are being used, standards have not been agreed upon. And it is unclear when the job will be done. BOB DOUGHTY:Recently, Apple and Adobe's dispute over Flash made news. Adobe placed advertisements criticizing Apple's move against Flash. The ads appeared in major newspapers and on the Web. But the Web community continues to move toward standards for HTML 5. Adobe is already releasing products that can use this system. And both Apple and Adobe will have their say in the final result: both are members of W3C. BOB DOUGHTY:This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Mario Ritter and Jerilyn Watson, with reporting by Susan Logue. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty. FAITH LAPIDUS:And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America. Source: Voice of America