Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home IT Management
    • IT Management
    • Mobile
    • PC Hardware

    Adobe Launches Open Screen Project

    By
    Darryl K. Taft
    -
    May 1, 2008
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Adobe Systems is launching a new project, leading with the Adobe Flash Player and the Adobe Integrated Runtime to push a consistent runtime environment across devices to make the user experience of shifting from desktop to device smoother.

      The Open Screen Project, announced May 1 by Adobe, is a broad industry effort to deliver a consistent runtime environment that will remove barriers for developers and designers as they publish applications and content across desktops and devices, including phones, mobile internet devices, and set top boxes, Adobe officials said.

      In addition, the Open Screen Project will address potential technology fragmentation by enabling the runtime technology to be updated seamlessly over the air on mobile devices, the company said. The goal of the consistent runtime environment is to deliver optimal performance across a variety of operating systems and devices.

      In essence, Adobe is spearheading the Open Screen Project as an effort to promote one Web experience for desktop and device users, and the company has garnered significant industry support along the way.

      The project is aimed at driving rich Internet experiences across televisions, personal computers, mobile devices and consumer electronics, Kevin Lynch, Adobe’s chief technology officer, said in an interview with eWEEK.

      “The situation in the world of devices and PCs is pretty dramatic in that the number of mobile phones and devices connected to the Internet has [grown] such that the most connected devices are not PCs, although most of the content is still aimed at PCs,” Lynch said.

      Adobe introduced the Open Screen Project with support from handset makers, carriers and content providers, including ARM, Chunghwa Telecom, Intel, LG Electronics, Marvell, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba. Content providers pledging support for the Open Screen Project include BBC, MTV Networks and NBC Universal, who want to reliably deliver rich Web and video experiences live and on-demand across a variety of devices, Lynch said.

      “We’ve been looking at this and we want to provide a great Web browsing experience across devices and PCs and enable content to flow consistently, and that’s something one company can’t do on its own,” Lynch said. “It’s like the soul of Adobe to go and do this.”

      He said Adobe plans to do for the Web-user experience what the company did for documents with PDF and Acrobat and what it did for multimedia and TIAs (rich Internet applications) with Flash.

      In addition, to better enable the Open Screen Project to succeed, Adobe will continue to open access to its Flash technology to accelerate the deployment of content and RIAs. This will include removing restrictions on use of the SWF (Shockwave Flash) and FLV/F4V (Flash Video) specifications, publishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe Flash Player, publishing the Adobe Flash Cast protocol and the AMF (Action Message Format) protocol for robust data services, and removing licensing fees to make the next major releases of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices free.

      “We currently charge a royalty for Flash on devices and we’re removing the royalty for the Flash Player and AIR; it’s already free on the PC,” Lynch said.

      He said Adobe Flash Player is the world’s most pervasive client runtime and that content for Adobe Flash Player reaches more than 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops and more than a half-billion handsets and mobile devices today. Adobe officials expect more than 1 billion handsets and mobile devices to ship with Adobe Flash technology by 2009. Flash technology is used to deliver vector graphics, text, interactivity and application logic, video and sound over the Internet.

      Meanwhile, the digital explosion across multiple screens is raising consumers’ expectations for engaging experiences wherever and however they connect with content, Lynch said. Web browsing on mobile devices is becoming commonplace, but delivering a consistent rich Internet experience remains a challenge, he said. To ensure that user expectations are fulfilled, software applications and video must work seamlessly across multiple devices and content must be easily available across those devices, the company said.

      “We’re making the client technology updateable to keep compatibility across devices,” Lynch said. “We want to provide open access to Web content and applications and do it in a consistent and open way.”

      Adobe’s focus on the seamless update over the air of mobile devices sounds like the strategy behind Microsoft’s Live Mesh platform, but Lynch said there are significant differences in that the Open Screen Project “is more about the client experience, and from what I can tell, Live Mesh is more of a server play.”

      Adobe’s hardware partners on the Open Screen Project also weighed in on the effort.

      Warren East, CEO of ARM, said in a statement that delivering “a highly responsive, uncompromised Web and rich media experience to consumer devices and the digital home is a key focus for ARM and our partners.”

      Darryl K. Taft
      Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×