Wolverton: Why Can't Apple And Adobe Just Get Along?
Monday
Feb 8, 2010
The bickering between Apple and Adobe over why Apple's iPhone and its new iPad don't run Adobe's Flash software is giving me a headache.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs says Flash is buggy and accuses Adobe of being lazy. Kevin Lynch, Adobe's chief technology officer, denies that and accuses Apple of trying to control what iPhone and iPad users can do with their devices.
Jobs says Flash is on its way out. no way, says Lynch.
Enough already. You guys are beginning to remind me of my kids. Can't you find some way to get along?
It seems to me that Apple and Adobe need each other. even if they didn't, the millions of us who own iPhones and iPod touches or who plan to buy an iPad when the new multimedia tablet hits the market need them to work things out. Because we're the ones who are going to lose out if they don't.
Adobe's Flash is a software program that plugs into a Web browser to deliver multimedia content such as games, videos and interactive advertisements. Adobe says the vast majority of top Web sites include Flash content and that 75 percent of the video on the Web is delivered using Flash.
Flash has mostly been a PC experience, because Flash players either haven't been available on smartphones or weren't powerful enough to access much of the Flash content on the Web.
Until now, the lack of Flash on the iPhone hasn't been that big of a deal. When the iPhone debuted in 2007, the browsing experience was so much
better than what came before it on mobile phones that it was hard to complain that it didn't support Flash. it was great just to be able to access the Web and full HTML pages. And because other smartphones also lacked Flash support, iPhone users didn't feel they were missing something.
That's about to change. through an initiative called the Open Screen Project, Adobe is revamping Flash to allow consumers to access by smartphone almost all multimedia content they can get on a PC. by the end of June, the company expects to have Flash version 10.1 available for a wide range of smartphones, including Palm's webOS phones, Research in Motion's BlackBerrys and devices running Android. the only major smartphone operating system missing from the list is Apple's iPhone OS.
IPhone users may not have worried much that their phones can't simultaneously run more than one application like other smartphones. But they soon may be unhappy that their phone can't access the videos and games that other phones can.
IPad owners may be even more unhappy. one thing people will want to do with Apple's new tablet device is access Web content. But if they can't watch a video on Hulu, play a game on Facebook or even look up ticket information for Cirque du Soleil, they may regret having bought an iPad instead of a netbook for $150 less.
Apple says consumers often can download a native application that does the same thing as Flash. YouTube, for example, uses Flash to deliver its videos to PC Web browsers, but its iPhone app lets users watch those videos without Flash.
But not every Web site has created an app — nor should they have to. And even those that have often discovered that their iPhone apps can't interact easily with their Flash-based applications on the Web.
While Apple enjoys a huge lead in applications available for the iPhone, Flash support could help its competitors level the playing field. with Flash, those devices could offer games, videos and other content not available on the iPhone.
Mind you, I'm not discounting Jobs' complaints about Flash. Adobe's Lynch himself acknowledged that Flash has typically run faster in Microsoft Windows than in Apple's Macintosh OS, from which the iPhone OS is derived. I've seen numerous comments from rank-and-file Mac users that Flash slows down their machines and makes them unstable. So it would seem that Adobe does need to improve Flash for Apple devices.
But Jobs' assertion that Apple doesn't need to support Flash because it's on the way out is premature at best. While a new version of the language used to code Web pages does include Flash-like multimedia capabilities, the standard for doing that is still being hashed out. with only a fraction of Web surfers using browsers that can translate the language's new capabilities, few Web publishers are using them yet.
So Apple needs to support Flash in the iPhone OS — or risk losing customers to other platforms that do. And Adobe needs Apple to support Flash — or it will risk Flash losing favor with developers and advertisers who use the technology to deliver their content and want to reach those millions of iPhone owners.
But most of all, we iPhone OS users need Apple and Adobe to work things out. Because we'll be missing out until they do.
Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-920-5021 or twolverton@mercurynews.com. Follow him on online at www.mercurynews.com/troy-wolverton or at Twitter.com/troywolv.
Wolverton: Why can't Apple and Adobe just get along?
The bickering between Apple and Adobe over why Apple's iPhone and its new iPad don't run Adobe's Flash software is giving me a headache.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs says Flash is buggy and accuses Adobe of being lazy. Kevin Lynch, Adobe's chief technology officer, denies that and accuses Apple of trying to control what iPhone and iPad users can do with their devices.
Jobs says Flash is on its way out. no way, says Lynch.
Enough already. You guys are beginning to remind me of my kids. Can't you find some way to get along?
It seems to me that Apple and Adobe need each other. even if they didn't, the millions of us who own iPhones and iPod touches or who plan to buy an iPad when the new multimedia tablet hits the market need them to work things out. Because we're the ones who are going to lose out if they don't.
Adobe's Flash is a software program that plugs into a Web browser to deliver multimedia content such as games, videos and interactive advertisements. Adobe says the vast majority of top Web sites include Flash content and that 75 percent of the video on the Web is delivered using Flash.
Flash has mostly been a PC experience, because Flash players either haven't been available on smartphones or weren't powerful enough to access much of the Flash content on the Web.
Until now, the lack of Flash on the iPhone hasn't been that big of a deal. When the iPhone debuted in 2007, the browsing experience was so much
better than what came before it on mobile phones that it was hard to complain that it didn't support Flash. it was great just to be able to access the Web and full HTML pages. And because other smartphones also lacked Flash support, iPhone users didn't feel they were missing something.
That's about to change. through an initiative called the Open Screen Project, Adobe is revamping Flash to allow consumers to access by smartphone almost all multimedia content they can get on a PC. by the end of June, the company expects to have Flash version 10.1 available for a wide range of smartphones, including Palm's webOS phones, Research in Motion's BlackBerrys and devices running Android. the only major smartphone operating system missing from the list is Apple's iPhone OS.
IPhone users may not have worried much that their phones can't simultaneously run more than one application like other smartphones. But they soon may be unhappy that their phone can't access the videos and games that other phones can.
IPad owners may be even more unhappy. one thing people will want to do with Apple's new tablet device is access Web content. But if they can't watch a video on Hulu, play a game on Facebook or even look up ticket information for Cirque du Soleil, they may regret having bought an iPad instead of a netbook for $150 less.
Apple says consumers often can download a native application that does the same thing as Flash. YouTube, for example, uses Flash to deliver its videos to PC Web browsers, but its iPhone app lets users watch those videos without Flash.
But not every Web site has created an app — nor should they have to. And even those that have often discovered that their iPhone apps can't interact easily with their Flash-based applications on the Web.
While Apple enjoys a huge lead in applications available for the iPhone, Flash support could help its competitors level the playing field. with Flash, those devices could offer games, videos and other content not available on the iPhone.
Mind you, I'm not discounting Jobs' complaints about Flash. Adobe's Lynch himself acknowledged that Flash has typically run faster in Microsoft Windows than in Apple's Macintosh OS, from which the iPhone OS is derived. I've seen numerous comments from rank-and-file Mac users that Flash slows down their machines and makes them unstable. So it would seem that Adobe does need to improve Flash for Apple devices.
But Jobs' assertion that Apple doesn't need to support Flash because it's on the way out is premature at best. While a new version of the language used to code Web pages does include Flash-like multimedia capabilities, the standard for doing that is still being hashed out. with only a fraction of Web surfers using browsers that can translate the language's new capabilities, few Web publishers are using them yet.
So Apple needs to support Flash in the iPhone OS — or risk losing customers to other platforms that do. And Adobe needs Apple to support Flash — or it will risk Flash losing favor with developers and advertisers who use the technology to deliver their content and want to reach those millions of iPhone owners.
But most of all, we iPhone OS users need Apple and Adobe to work things out. Because we'll be missing out until they do.
Contact Troy Wolverton at 408-920-5021 or twolverton@mercurynews.com. Follow him on online at www.mercurynews.com/troy-wolverton or at Twitter.com/troywolv.
Wolverton: Why can't Apple and Adobe just get along?
February 02, 2010, 04:35 AM EST
Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc.'s A4 chip, unveiled last week as part of its iPad, shows how Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is extending control over the company's hardware at the expense of Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp.
Instead of buying an off-the-shelf part, Jobs had Apple's engineers design the A4 chip, giving them influence over its cost and functions, said Will Strauss, an analyst at Forward Concepts co., a researcher in Tempe, Arizona.
"He wants his own ecosystem and doesn't want to be beholden to anyone," Strauss said in an interview. "It's both maximizing his margins and maximizing his control."
Apple's decision to design its own part is a blow to Intel, which is trying to win a foothold in mobile devices with its Atom product, said Jim McGregor, an analyst at research firm In- Stat in Scottsdale, Arizona. Apple will probably use a version of the A4 in future models of the iPhone, he said.
"Every step that Apple has taken, from the iPhone to the tablet, has been directly in the sights of Intel, and where it has been wanting to go with Atom," McGregor said. "Intel has been completely rebuffed."
the iPad, a touch-screen tablet computer, will go on sale by March, Jobs said at the Jan. 27 debut of the device.
Apple, based in Cupertino, California, rose $2.67 to $194.73 yesterday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. the shares have fallen 7.6 percent this year. Intel, down 3.9 percent in 2010, increased 21 cents to $19.61, while Qualcomm gained 58 cents to $39.77.
Small Market
Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, and Qualcomm, the largest maker of chips for phones, are trying to create a new market for devices that bridge the gap between computers and smartphones.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates that Apple will sell 6 million iPads this year. by contrast, the market for mobile phones will reach 1 billion units and PC sales will be about 300 million. Still, the iPad is a high-profile attempt to crack a market that Qualcomm and Intel have set their sights on, said Jagdish Rebello, an analyst at El Segundo, California-based research firm ISuppli Corp.
"Intel would have wanted to get into this device, Qualcomm would have wanted to get into this device," Rebello said. he also expects Apple to use the A4 in future models of the iPhone.
‘Nice Job'
"IPad is powered by our own custom silicon," Jobs said at the iPad's introduction. "We have an incredible group that does custom silicon at Apple."
Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, said the company wouldn't comment beyond Jobs's remarks and information on the company's Web site.
Apple's Mac computers run on processors made by Santa Clara, California-based Intel, whose chips power more than 80 percent of the world's PCs. the iPhone uses a Samsung Electronics co.-manufactured processor that was partially designed by Apple engineers, Rebello said.
"Apple's done a nice job innovating with their vertically integrated device," said bill Calder, an Intel spokesman. "But we remain confident that the Intel architecture will fuel broad growth in a wide range of intelligent devices from tablets to smartphones."
At the Consumer Electronics Show in January, Intel announced that LG Electronics Inc., the world's third-largest phone maker, will use one of its processors in a new smartphone to debut this year.
Qualcomm's Snapdragon
Qualcomm, based in San Diego, has held talks about supplying products for use in Apple's iPhone, Chief Executive Officer Paul Jacobs said in an interview in November. At CES, Qualcomm said computer makers Hewlett-Packard co. and Lenovo Group Ltd. will make scaled-down laptops that use its Snapdragon processor.
"We are very excited about the opportunities in the mobile computing space," Bertha Agia, a Qualcomm spokeswoman, said in an e-mail. "Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform has 15 manufacturers that are developing more than 40 Snapdragon-based products."
the A4 processor costs about $15 to make, according to Broadpoint AmTech Inc. That would make it the most expensive semiconductor component in the iPad, behind memory chips. the total cost of the iPad's parts is $188.50 for the cheapest model, which will retail for $499, Broadpoint said.
In April 2008, Apple bought closely held semiconductor designer P.A. Semi Inc. That company's expertise in low-power chips probably explains the iPad's 10-hour battery life, said Strauss from Forward Concepts.
Making a processor run quickly without draining the battery is the biggest challenge Intel faces in cracking the mobile market, Strauss said. While he estimates that Apple will sell only 2 million iPads this year, being left out of an attention- grabbing device is the biggest loss for Intel, he said.
"The only loser there is that Intel doesn't have another feather in its cap," he said.
--With assistance from Connie Guglielmo in San Francisco. Editors: Stephen West, Jonathan Thaw.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ian King in San Francisco at +1-415-617-7171 or ianking@bloomberg.net; Arik Hesseldahl in new York at +1-212-512-2371 or arik@businessweek.com.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jonathan Thaw at +1-415-617-7168 or jthaw@bloomberg.net.
-0- Feb/02/2010 05:00 GMT
Apple's Jobs Spurns Intel, Qualcomm With A4 Processor for IPad
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