Adobe has announced an update to Flash Media Server which will allow Flash content to be streamed to iOS devices.
Flash Media Server 4.5 repackages audio and video content in real time and changes the protocol, to, say, HTTP Dynamic Streaming, to suit the target device. This, says Adobe, will allow ‘businesses to use the same media and live streams to deliver full adaptive bit-rate experiences to platforms supporting Flash, as well as Apple devices, including iPad and iPhone.’
Apple infamously decided no to support Flash in iOS. In an open letter in April last year, Steve Jobs cited performance issues, reliability, battery life, security, and developer reliance on third party technologies as reasons for the ban. ‘The mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short,’ he wrote.
Adobe also announced Flash Access 3 which it said would allow users to provide large scale on-demand content with ‘strict studio-level security’ and to generate e revenue from it, following the release of Flash Player 11 and Adobe Air 3 later this year.
