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BlackBerry jumping ahead of iPhone with full Flash support

i'm still waiting for mms, don't even want to think how many years if ever i get to see flash on this phone
 
I hope they implement it and it works really well without destroying the battery that way Apple can steal it and we can have it next year.
 
I'll be curious to hear how it works out and if people end up using it. I miss flash a lot less than I expected to on my iPhone, but maybe people can start delivering content specifically designed for flash-supporting high-end phones like these BB's....
 
STEVESKI07 said:
I hope they implement it and it works really well without destroying the battery that way Apple can steal it and we can have it next year.
Click to expand...

But I don't get how most flash on the web will work without a cursor.

There's no "hover", no "on mouse over", no "on click" event --- how will most flash elements work on the iphone?
 
cellocello said:
There's no "hover", no "on mouse over", no "on click" event --- how will most flash elements work on the iphone?
Click to expand...

You could probably fake it reasonably well by creating a virtual cursor that the flash applet keeps track of, and then updating it based on touches inside the flash embed. I'm not a flash developer, but it doesn't sound completely insurmountable to me....

This would be basically the way a tablet PC works, except the cursor could probably just as well be hidden most of the time.

Then again, I'm still skeptical Flash would improve the browsing experience.
 
mkrishnan said:
You could probably fake it reasonably well by creating a virtual cursor that the flash applet keeps track of, and then updating it based on touches inside the flash embed. I'm not a flash developer, but it doesn't sound completely insurmountable to me....

This would be basically the way a tablet PC works, except the cursor could probably just as well be hidden most of the time.

Then again, I'm still skeptical Flash would improve the browsing experience.
Click to expand...

Right - "Works with iPhone" certified flash elements. Existing flash sites would need to be re-done - is that what you mean?
 
cellocello said:
But I don't get how most flash on the web will work without a cursor.

There's no "hover", no "on mouse over", no "on click" event --- how will most flash elements work on the iphone?
Click to expand...

I don't think all flash elements need to exist. I'm fine with not being able to access an all flash website, as long as I can view it. Mouse over or hover should be able to work if you pass your finger across it but don't lift it up. Also, the onclick should still be able to work, which means you could navigate through most flash menus. It doesn't need to be perfect, I just hate going to a website and I see nothing besides that the page can't be displayed.

Also just to show my lack of expertise and so people don't say I'm making stuff up, I'm a web developer, but I don't do flash or mobile applications, so this is all theory.
 
cellocello said:
Right - "Works with iPhone" certified flash elements. Existing flash sites would need to be re-done - is that what you mean?
Click to expand...

I'm speculating wildly here, but I would guess that a simple cursor emulation could seamlessly cover a pretty vast swath of flash embeds without the user or developer even being aware an iPhone is being used, with a handful left over that don't work and would either need to be redesigned or just not used. I would guess that 85 or 90% compatibility with existing Flash would be so good that no one would really bat an eyelash at the sites that don't work.
 
mkrishnan said:
I'm speculating wildly here, but I would guess that a simple cursor emulation could seamlessly cover a pretty vast swath of flash embeds without the user or developer even being aware an iPhone is being used, with a handful left over that don't work and would either need to be redesigned or just not used. I would guess that 85 or 90% compatibility with existing Flash would be so good that no one would really bat an eyelash at the sites that don't work.
Click to expand...

Hmm ... maybe.

I assume you mean like a "touch finger and drag" to emulate a hover state? But isn't that a core OS level thing? how will the system know when to scroll the page, and when to kick in the hover emulation? What happens if the flash takes up the whole screen, and you can't scroll away since it's just hovering your cursor within the flash element?

I dunno .... I'm just throwing stuff out there. I'm not really sure how this would or wouldn't work (I'm really just alt-tabbing between this and some annoying ass emails at work, so don't mind me ;)).
 
Let's wait and see what flash looks like on the bb before getting jealous. If it's anything like it is on the HTC Hero, I'll pass.
 
QCassidy352 said:
Let's wait and see what flash looks like on the bb before getting jealous. If it's anything like it is on the HTC Hero, I'll pass.
Click to expand...

I had it on WinMo and it wasn't anything great. Yes, it was nice accessing Hulu, and that's basically the only thing I'm jealous about. As far as those select few all flash sites you occasionally come across, I can do without them.
 
First off, not everyone wants Flash. I hate flash, it's disgustingly slow. Just like java, it's another pile of poop that's been shoved down the interwebs' throats...

I don't like flash, in fact, get rid of it completely...don't put it on my iPhone, on my mac, anywhere.
 
The iPhone current does have hover, it only shows for a split second, but when you click on a link it shows any hover attributes and with menus that drop down when you hover, it becomes a full click on the iPhone.

I for one don't really care about flash on my phone, but it would be cool to have Hulu be viewable!
 
mkrishnan said:
...
Then again, I'm still skeptical Flash would improve the browsing experience.
Click to expand...

It would provide 100% improvement for viewing all Flash sites.... :D

Actually, I think if it becomes widely known, that the iPhone is the only major platform, which cannot access Flash content on the web, it would affect its sales adversely.

The big winner will likely be Android, since it gets the closest to providing an overall "iPhone experience."

I really, really hope Apple sees the light on this one.
 
The only aspect of flash I would want is the ability to watch videos on sites that are using a flash based player to stream.

Other than that - not a fan of flash - and see little reason for it to be on the iphone.
 
samcraig said:
The only aspect of flash I would want is the ability to watch videos on sites that are using a flash based player to stream.
Click to expand...

Many sites are finally moving away from using Flash for video. I wouldn't want Flash for iPhone to prevent sites from adopting better solutions like embedding h.264 video.
 
samcraig said:
The only aspect of flash I would want is the ability to watch videos on sites that are using a flash based player to stream.

Other than that - not a fan of flash - and see little reason for it to be on the iphone.
Click to expand...

This is really not about who likes Flash, and who doesn't. Many don't like the iPhone, either, or the web, or computers.

The fact is, Flash is a huge part of the web, and it's not going away anytime soon. And the iPhone will be the only major platform without it.

Flash is basic, and it is bigger than MMS. And I bet, the iPhone competitors will not keep quiet about it.

Frankly, if I were buying in a couple of months, when the Flash Player 10 Public Beta becomes available for the other major mobile platforms, and there are a dozen Android devices on the market, it may have impacted my purchasing decision. As I am sure it would for many, once the ads start showing up.
 
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