back to article Adobe turns on to Flash TVs

It's the user interface stupid! Adobe is working to bring its Flash web animation and video viewer to the living room via a new run-time system for HD TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players and other connected living room devices. This is all part of bringing Internet content into the TV viewing experience. The Adobe strategy is …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    Oh great

    So we'll be forced to update our TVs every week now too. Also, does that mean that during the news we'll be forced to watch annoying amateur video ads while trying to read a story?

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh goody

    This means that developers will now need to develop everything for Flash and the Yahoo! platform.

  3. Tom Chiverton

    Wii ?

    So will the Wii get that updated player too now then ?

  4. David Lawrence
    Coat

    I just can't wait.....

    Hmm will that be in the firmware? How will it work when a new release becomes available?

    How soon before my TV starts BSODing on me, or perhaps requiring a re-boot half way through watching or recording something?

    Hey - maybe they could do a deal with Phorm, to capture details of my viewing habits and bombard me with personalised adverts.

    Sounds like something from Minority Report to me. Won't be long before they can intercept our brainwaves, just you wait.

    Mine's the one with the tinfoil lining and matching hat in the pocket.....

  5. Rob
    Go

    Or alternatively...

    ... go out and buy a Wii and get the opera browser installed on it and you can also play games on it as well as watch youtube.

  6. Walker
    Thumb Down

    What a joke.

    They haven't even created a Flash player for 64-bit Windows browsers yet.

    Their development priorities are... interesting.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    YouTube on TV? Hmm...

    If this pans out maybe British daytime TV programs will no longer feel the need to show "funny" YouTube clips that were popular 2 years ago.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    *sigh*

    What's the point?

    Do none of the higher ups in these companies ever step back and just ask "What's the point?"

    If they did I bet they'd make a lot more money.

  9. goggyturk

    Smart move

    Having access to YouTube and BBC iPlayer on't telly via the PS3 is actually quite good fun. If they can make it even easier for people to access such things then they could be on to a winner.

    As for the Windows 64 bit comment - are you joking?? Set top boxes are a potentially huge market, Win 64 is a niche and Adobe are competitors with MS in a lot of areas, so it makes a lot of sense to me...

    PS - liked the irony of the 'Microsoft - commited to Open Source' link at the bottom of the article. That would be Moonlight running on Mono then?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    Joke

    Adobe still, after such a long while (their claim - 9 months) are unable to get Flash working on a 64 bit browser for Windows Vista.

    Some chance of them getting it to work under VxWorks or any other environment (e.g. embedded Linux).

    No thanks Adobe.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    @Rob

    If only...the Wii Opera browser is quite an old build and only supports Flash 7. YouTube works, YouPorn doesn't. Or at least not in my limited testing...sorry, research.

    So, none of the new Flash games etc, But you do get iPlayer which seems OK if you have a decent wireless link.

    Nintendo really are missing a trick with not getting up top speed with the latest stuff. Still, I suppose there isn't any money to be made out of it.

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Or alternatively

    >> Go... go out and buy a Wii and get the opera browser installed on it and you can also play games on it as well as watch youtube.

    Browse the web in 540p - I think I would rather use my phone.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Stop

    @goggyturk

    Dell only ship (and support) Windows Vista 64 on their latest machines (e.g. Core i7 XPS, Adamo laptops etc). Harley niche if new machines are to ship with Vista 64 bit. STB's that have internet browsing are niche (at the moment).

    Adobe have been publicly saying they've been trying to get Flash working for 9 months, it really is shameful. Silverlight from Microsoft has yet to catch on. I don't want it to, but left with no Adobe's dire performance I am, for once, wishing Microsoft well in the hope that some competition will focus Adobe's mind.

    STB's required code that is efficient - small resource requirements and per formant on low cost hardware. Acrobat Reader is a prime example of Adobe's trend in the opposite direction.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    High score, maximum points awarded

    Mostly for comments on GUI with the G = ghastly.

    Yup, even some remotes are becoming as key intensive as a computer keyboard.

  15. JC

    Hey Adobe!

    We're already blocking Flash on PCs, how much do you plan on subsidizing our TVs to get us to put up with Flash on them?

  16. Grant
    Happy

    @Walker

    I run Vista x64 on my Work machine; and there is very little 64-bit native software - including MS Office, Google desktop etc.

    MS ship 64-bit IE7 (and I guess) IE8, but support seems to be limited on that as well.

    In the end, it really doesn't matter; I have FF3.1b3 as my main browser and all Flash sites work fine. Given that 32-bit flash plug in is fine, I would never have noticed it, other than one day I tested a broken site in IE7 & notice flash was not installed.

  17. Grant
    Thumb Up

    Adobe Flash on Win64

    Makes sense for them to make this lowish priority.

    I run Vista x64 on my work machine & little software comes in 64-bit versions; including MS Office 2007, Google desktop etc.

    Given that MS haven't produced a 64-bit Silverlight version even though they make a x64 version of IE7/IE8, I don't expect Adobe to be ahead of MS here.

    In actual fact, I run FF 3.1b3 on my machine & Flash works fine; making me wonder what would the point of a x64 version would really be? Maybe some performance gain, but if its running in a 32-bit browser...

    On the other-hand, UI's on a lot of setup boxes & TV's pretty much suck, so having nice, rich UI's via Flash (or more likely DHTML + Flash via Adobe Air) is useful.

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