Adobe Systems has announced the Open Screen Project, supported by a group of industry names including ARM, Chunghwa Telecom, Cisco, Intel, LG Electronics, Marvell, Motorola, Nokia, NTT DoCoMo, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Verizon Wireless. The project is said to be dedicated to driving rich Internet experiences across televisions, personal computers, mobile devices, and consumer electronics. Also supporting the Open Screen Project are leading content providers, including 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.
The Open Screen Project is working to enable a consistent runtime environment — taking advantage of Adobe Flash Player and, in the future, Adobe AIR — that will remove barriers for developers and designers as they publish content and applications across desktops and devices, including phones, mobile Internet devices (MIDs), and set top boxes. 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 consistent runtime environment is intended to provide optimal performance across a variety of operating systems and devices, and ultimately provide the best experience to consumers.
To support the objective, Adobe says it will continue to open access to Adobe Flash technology, accelerating the deployment of content and rich Internet applications (RIAs). The work will include:
– Removing restrictions on use of the SWF and FLV/F4V specifications
– Publishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe Flash Player
– Publishing the Adobe Flash Cast protocol and the AMF protocol for robust data services
– Removing licensing fees – making next major releases of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices free
"Adobe is spearheading the Open Screen Project with support from industry leaders who share a common vision to provide rich, interactive experiences across computers, devices and consumer electronics," said Shantanu Narayen, chief executive officer at Adobe. "A consistent, more open platform for developers will drive rapid innovation, vastly improving the user experience."
Adobe Flash Player is the world's most pervasive client runtime, delivering unparalleled creative options, highly engaging user experiences, stunning audio/video playback, and universal reach. Content for Adobe Flash Player is said to reach over 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops and more than a half billion handsets and mobile devices today.
"As a long time strategic partner of Adobe, we are pleased to help launch the Open Screen Project and applaud Adobe's move toward removing barriers to adoption of Flash technology in the mobile ecosystem. Nokia will continue to deploy Flash runtime technologies on our devices," said Lee Williams, Senior Vice President, Nokia Devices Software. "Nokia has a long history of pioneering the deployment of Flash technology in the mobile market and we look forward to exploring future opportunities with Adobe AIR for devices. Today's announcement will help spur a new generation of rich Internet experiences on mobile devices."