Steve Jobs “just says no” to Flash on iPhone. Well, on first glance, that’s just what he says now, and we all know, like a good episode of Lost, there’s always more to unpack and nothing is what it seems. Considering Adobe’s product line, the so-called “missing middle Flash product” suitable for the iPhone doesn’t yet exist. The middle product refers to something between Flash Player for the desktop and Flash Lite for mobile devices. But, considering the pipeline, it’s only a matter of time before Adobe AIR Mobile hits iPhone and just about every other mobile device, smack dab in the middle of the entire mainstream interactive media ecosystem.¹

Despite all the nay-saying, Adobe seems determined to get Flash on OS X Touch.

The brilliance of both Apple and Adobe waiting for Adobe AIR Mobile to launch is that it addresses all issues and pleases both parties politically:

• AIR Mobile is likely to be built upon AJAX, WebKit and Flash Player with the ActionScript 3.0 VM, as it is on the desktop, so it will be robust, efficient, modern and support both Apple’s and Adobe’s standards. It will please developers, designers, open standards proponents, lovers of proprietary goodness, and every other regular user who just wants everything to just work.
• AIR Mobile will solve the installation and distribution problem inherent in Flash Lite. Flash Player for the desktop has never been about standalone application installation. AIR on the desktop bridges this gap. It’s only a matter of time before Adobe sends AIR into the mobile device space and allows creators to put mobile app icons on standby screens with a few clicks. Just think Apple AppStore, or jailbreak AppTapp for Adobe Mobile AIR.
• AIR Mobile will bridge the fading distinction between web – desktop – mobile by allowing creators to write software in one environment (eg. Flex Builder) and distribute codebase to all three of these crucial platforms in a truly hybrid sense.
• It’s really no coincidence that Apple and Adobe are both investing heavily in products named “Air” — the notion of the data-cloud, cloud-sourcing, everyware, and webware is nascent. Narrow-minded jargon-lovers will call it Web 3.0, but intelligent folks will hopefully leave this lame version number moniker behind and use the appropriately visionary language espoused here.

Multi-touch API is the key

The central unresolved issue that remains is a multi-touch API. Any version of Flash for iPhone will need to have its intrinsic APIs updated for multi-touch and that will need to translate to a higher-level ActionScript object so that designers and developers can trap events related to multi-touch gestures. Without gestures like pinch, flick, zoom and others, it’s really pointless to put Flash on iPhone.

At the end of the day, talk about politics, performance and battery life are probably just the red-herrings that both Apple and Adobe need to work out the vexing issue of multi-touch APIs. In fact, it will probably take a few years before all platforms (Windows Mobile, Symbian, Android and iPhone) all reckon with multi-touch on all levels of hardware and software.

The alleged YouTube Mobile Safari plugin in OS X Touch 2.0 beta is probably all the beehive needs to chill out and give Apple and Adobe the breathing room they need to get multi-touch worked out, and deploy Mobile AIR on a dizzying and divergent array of devices, platforms and crotchety carriers.

Previously:

• YouTube plugin for Mobile Safari Suggests No Flash in iPhone 2.0←
• Will iPhone Ever Run Flash?←

Footnotes

1. This is based only pure postulation and not informed by any confidential Adobe insight.

Specula-palooza Rocks On

The latest in Flash and iPhone rumor-mongering suggests a YouTube plug-in for Mobile Safari will accompany this summer’s Touch OS 2.0 update. An uncorroborated claim indicates that this plug-in is contained within the recently seeded developer iPhone SDK 2.0 beta firmware.

This would theoretically enable embedded YouTube movies to work on the billions of pages that currently flaunt the dreaded blue question mark icon. Presumably, a page with an embedded YouTube SWF player might show a thumbnail with a play icon that when tapped would load the clip in the native YouTube player or some embedded player within Mobile Safari. This would be similar to what happens when you load an embedded MP4 video file via the native QuickTime player within the iPod function.

In technical terms, Mobile Safari may parse the OBJECT and EMBED tags that point to the YouTube SWF player and redirect the path to the video into its own native player.

It’s important to note that not all YouTube videos would work. In fact, numerous clips not encoded to MP4 H.264 remain only available in the Flash codecs Sorenson Spark and On2 and therefore would not play in the Mobile Safari YouTube plugin. Although, Apple and Google seem to be colluding to convert the vast user-generated video library over into the H.263 format. It’s truly doubtful that OS X Touch 2.0 contains additional video codecs beyond H.263.

However, rather than subscribing to comment stream appearing below rumor sites, this YouTube Mobile Safari plugin is very likely not a clue towards a Flash player for iPhone. In fact, this could be the kiss of death for the chances of seeing it soon.

This kind of Mobile Safari plug-in access is precisely what Apple is shielding from Adobe (and other third-party developers, thanks to the sandbox intrinsic to the SDK). In many ways, a YouTube plugin acts as a trojan horse to usurp dominance from Flash in favor of WebKit and open standards. For most people who crave a Flash Player for iPhone, it’s the frequent dead-end to embedded YouTube clips that has them most irked. Once that kink is worked out, will users really miss Flash?

The other crucial importance of a Mobile Safari YouTube plugin is that it bypasses the main sticking point: how to implement multi-touch via an ActionScript API in the Flash Player!

We’re not suggesting Flash Player won’t ever appear on OS X Touch, but if a native YouTube plugin appears for Mobile Safari this summer, it has big implications for Adobe’s mobile strategy, and concerns the long-term viability of Flash as a de-facto standard if the mobile medium cannot be captured.

We’d love to see Flash on OS X Touch. There is a vast designer and developer community out there fluent in ActionScript that would thrive in a Touch world. It’s all about a multi-touch API from here on out. We’ve tinkered with both Mobile Safari web application design with WebKit and AJAX and also attempted to pick apart Cocoa Touch. There is no middle ground yet, and the Touch application market is nascent and fractured as a result. You’ve either got really crappy web applications or sketchy jailbreak apps. Yes, this summer’s launch of the AppStore will change the game forever. But, until the vast Adobe-enabled developer community is employed to create, the market will be constricted by limitations and learning curves.

Previously: Will iPhone Ever Run Flash? ←

1. Existing 1.1.1 or 1.1.2 jailbroken phone — early upgraders or new owners may consider this guide to downgrading 1.1.3
2. Installer.app (AppTapp by Nullriver pre-installed)
3. Possible disabling of Google Maps “Locate Me” feature
4. The usual fearless audacity to perform authorized operations on a licensed device.

Similar to the iPhone 1.1.2 jailbreak and earlier ones, the process involves patching the Apple firmware files and then flashing the phone. The controversy around jailbreaking ultimately centers around copyright and maybe even DMCA concerns. Obviously, this is a developing story, evolving the continuing saga of cat-and-mousing.

The Google Map Location feature that comprises the most useful feature of 1.1.3 may not be available with the jailbreak for SIM unlockers according to the early reports, so this may be a deal-breaker for aspiring jail-breakers/un-lockers. As always, if you don’t know the difference between jailbreaking and unlocking, then you either need to educate yourself or run, far away from this stuff. Perusing the comment chatter out there, many are experiencing difficulties with the jailbreak and compatibility concerns.

Assuming you’ve got a 1.1.3 iPhone and need to downgrade before jailbreaking, this process promises to be a confoundingly elaborate process, probably consuming several hours of your time. If you just need to jailbreak to 1.1.3, the process is probably fairly quick and painless.

Get the iPhone 1.1.3 jailbreak » All the usual warnings and disclaimers apply. We publish this information for editorial and historical purposes and not as evidence of our actions. We have not tested the downgrade or Nate True jailbreak.

Via Erica Sadun via Nate True via the Dev Team

Original iPhone hackster extraordinaire Nate True has used some undisclosed means to peek into firmware 1.1.3 and discovered essential file system structural changes that will allow Official SDK based third-party applications to run and install easily. Notably…

1. SpringBoard appears to display whatever is in the /Applications directory. Earlier firmwares used a .plist XML configuration file. Then, at 1.1.1, Apple dropped the editable text file in favor of a locked SpringBoard, which, in turn, was quickly hacked with SummerBoard and other unofficial apps for re-ordering and adding. Perhaps, the SpringBoard home screen is even more efficient at 1.1.3 in that it simply renders the contents of the /Applications directory.
2. Applications run as the user “mobile” instead of as “root” which clearly sandboxes official apps and resolves numerous security concerns with opening up the platform for third-party development.
3. Preference files are stored in the “mobile” user directory (/var/mobile) instead of the “root” user directory (/var/root), a natural extension of implementation #2.

Via Nate True at cre.ations.net

Further consideration yields the basic assumption that Apple can release the SDK, and even launch titles from third-parties that will effortlessly install into iPhone 1.1.3 without additional updates required. The iPod Touch update purchased via iTunes is probably the essence of what’s to come.

The burning question remains, however. Will the jailbreak scene still thrive after officialization commences? What about the magnificent Nullriver AppTapp Installer? And the further exploits of his majesty Nate True?

Despite furious speculation, Jobs releases incremental product improvements, rather than fundamental game-changing gear

Apple announced four new products today in San Francisco:

1. Time Capsule, wireless base station and network storage device
2. iPhone and iPod Touch firmware updates
3. Apple TV 2.0 and iTunes Video Rentals
4. MacBook Air ultra-thin notebook
5. One more thing… There is NO “one more thing!”

Interestingly, these announcements merely validate earlier predictions, mostly based on patent-filings, clues embedded deep within application strings, and the usual rumoring that surrounds Apple product design. In fact, the first three announcements represent the fulfillment of promised features more than anything else.

Time Capsule simply makes good on the promise of Leopard’s Time Machine feature to work usably on portable computers. The notion of a network storage appliance is nothing new.

The iPhone and Touch firmware updates, free for phone owners and a $20 upgrade for Touch owners, merely respond to the deluge of feature requests that at times overshadowed the praise of these revolutionary devices. Indeed, text messaging to multiple recipients, locative services in Google Maps, lyrics and video chapter displays, and home screen customization capabilities seemed like no-brainers from the start. On the Touch side, owners must shell out to gain the applications that are standard on the iPhone, which motivated the Touch jailbreak movement to establish a feature parity across the products. At least Apple is focusing on listening carefully to the user-base chatter. The iPhone firmware 1.1.3 is already available. Will a new jailbreak method appear before the official SDK launch?

When considering the Apple TV free software update and reduced introductory pricing, here is another example of Apple merely updating the software and business platforms to add serious value to existing owners. In many ways, today’s announcements are the biggest news for existing customers, especially owners of iPhones and Apple TVs, who in two weeks will be graciously rewarded with significant feature upgrades for free. No wonder all other companies envy Apple’s relationship with its customers.

The MacBook Air, however, is a mixed bag of excitements and disappointments. Certainly, the barely-there form factor is what will attract attention. But it’s the multi-touch trackpad and the planned obsolescence of the optical disc that represent the most significant futurist shifts. But $3100 for the solid state drive version is really, really, really expensive. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the new Air is its striking lack of a user replaceable battery!

Top 10 Expectations Unfulfilled

Indeed, wild speculation seemed to include every possible configuration and predictable product launch, and so, these were not announced today:

1. No tablet computer, basically an iPhone/Touch the size of a notebook, running OS X, not Mac OS X, 100% touch
2. No replacement for the Mac Mini, some kind of a screen-less, entry-level desktop
3. No 3G iPhone running on AT&T’s UMTS, nor a 16 GB storage upgrade
4. No AT&T wireless networking built into notebooks
5. No “copy & paste” for iPhone/Touch
6. No WiMax devices
7. No BluRay disc devices, especially on the Apple TV
8. No Speed bumps to product lines other than Pro towers, especially iMac, MacBooks and MacBook Pro
9. No Leopard Software Update 10.5.2
10. No iPhone SDK based application demonstrations

At this moment, Apple’s stock price is not surging, but then again, most of the market looks to be tanking. Not even Father Jobs can lure the US economy from a looming recession with his “halo effect” against the debt crisis and devalued dollar.

It was a fun ride, and we certainly garnered a small portion of the incredible Google search term traffic related to iPhone hype in 2006. I’m afraid we’ll be waiting out the dark period until February 2008, when the official SDK is released and a new generation of extensibility emerges for Touch applications. We also anticipate a significant iPhone firmware update at MacWorld 2008 in January to tide us over. Not to mention all the brouhaha that will sound out when the 3G version hits the streets.

In short, the jailbreak process became too arduous and the reliability of some common applications became dubious. Naturally, this is no surprise, given the fact that Apple had no reasons to support these endeavors. Indeed, the post-SDK era will involve mediation through digital signatures, and the indy iPhone developer market will writhe in pain. But, if it means that applications will be sturdy, well designed, and accountable to performance and efficiency standards, we have to admit that it’s probably worth it, having learned the hard way. When it comes to a mobile phone, the basic functions are more crucial than on a desktop or laptop computer. Things like basic communications capabilities really do, just have to work.

With an 1.1.3 update rumored to be hitting the servers this week sporting voice recording and disk mode storage, the jailbreak process promises only to get more arcane.

Firmware Update Unsettles

The long awaited firmware updated is released today. We’ve speculated its identifier as iPhone 2.0 and other possibilities, but the important thing is that new features and capabilities are added for free to expand the software offerings of iPhone. Certainly, not everyone will be 100% impressed with what’s been added today, as you can only please most of the people some of the time.

Early reports suggest that this update does not break or “brick” when applied to a device with un-authorized third-party applications, especially using AppTapp. However, early reports suggest that the installed applications are wiped out as the fresh OS install essentially reformats and reinstalls. If you’re insistent on preserving your third-party apps, it’s advisable to wait for Nullriver to release a new AppTapp tested with 1.1.1 support before launching forward with the update. However, bricking is likely with SIM unlocks. Certainly, the comment streams will be awash with controversy.

Mobile Touch Screen WordPress Theme In The Works

In response to the proliferating importance of portable touch-screen interfaces, we have started the design and development of a WordPress theme for iPhone and iPod Touch devices. The theme will make your WordPress site look and behave like a native application, taking advantage of the special requirements of a touch-screen, flick-and-slide scroll interface minimizing zoom-pinching, all using Joe Hewitt’s iUI JavaScript and CSS library.

The project is currently in a pre-alpha release state. We have released an early alpha, with a distant dream publish it to the official WordPress theme site. Anyone who is interested in helping to test and develop the concept should contact us by email. Let it be known that we are not the first to attempt a WordPress iUI theme, although we are working a more comprehensive implementation than what Justin Barkhuff has already achieved while on his year-long honeymoon!

» Try WordPress Touch pre-alpha on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

If the Touch theme does not appear right away, keep trying, by refreshing or revisiting this link. For some reason, the cookie that tells WordPress to use this theme isn’t registering correctly.

Release Notes

• You can simulate the experience by viewing the Touch theme without an iPhone or iPod Touch by using Safari 3.1 or the Webkit nightly build, the iPhoney simulator, or the official iPhone simulator as part of the SDK.
• Viewing this theme in other browsers will probably yield unpredictable and undesirable results.
• Your browser will remember your theme choice in a cookie. To reset back to the standard theme, choose Preferences > Theme > Desktop within the Touch theme main menu.
• As stated above, if you don’t succeed in triggering the WordPress Touch theme to appear, be persistent. This is an known issue to be resolved. It has something to do with the theme switcher plugin I’m using.

Design Goals

• Optimize WordPress consumption for the WebKit touchscreen user-interface model — in progress
• Focus on mobile use-cases, to allow a quick consume, easy lookups — in progress
• Employ best practices for iPhone and iPod Touch interface design conventions — in progress
• Allow options for auto-detection, user-selection and return to standard desktop views — in progess
• Introduce glossy icons for menus, with preference to disable — to do
• Introduce auto-resizing thumbnail management and disabling LightBox photo gallery features — to do

Specula-palooza

Risking iPhone coverage overexposure, today we ponder one of the most interesting questions about the future of Flash, iPhone and web standards. Despite assurances by Uncle Walt that Apple and Adobe are hard at work on a Flash Player for iPhone, plenty of naysayers, skeptics, and player-haters have voiced strong speculations that Flash will never appear on the iPhone for strategic, practical and technical reasons. A quick scan of comments on various iPhone related entries across the web reveals an almost universal plea amongst everyday users indicating that a dearly missed feature from Mobile Safari is the presence of a mainstream multimedia plugin. In fact, the world’s most popular piece of software in history, is well known to be absent from iPhone.¹

Mobilizing the Means of Production

Those who have written about why iPhone should not have a Flash Player don’t mask their agendas. These voices are usually programmers and developers who have always been hostile to Flash, mostly because it threatens their grip on the means of production, by bringing software and interface design to the masses. Indeed, we’ve seen the worst and the best of the web, as a result. Furthermore, because Flash has always been a mainstream, populist, albeit proprietary media format, it has been deployed for reach and ease of creation, rather than robust performance. When imagining a Flash Player for iPhone, its high-octane thirst for processor cycles does not bode well for battery life.

Monopolizing Web Standards

The second significant argument against iPhone Flash is Apple’s strategy to deploy its WebKit “web standards” platform for all third-party application development. Indeed, the recently redesigned Apple.com site has reduced its use of Flash significantly, in favor of JavaScript and browser based features, so-called AJAX. The argument goes that Apple doesn’t want to forsake its influence on the consumer-level interface design market by inserting Adobe’s trojan horse into the battlefield.² This perspective does make a lot of sense, but leaves out a tremendous amount of nuance, that we’ll investigate here.

A Muted Voice

The assumption that web standards based technology, such as JavaScript, can wholly replace Flash functionality is only somewhat true, especially on iPhone.³ Certainly, the support of JavaScript and its embrace by the web developer community over the past three to five years has changed the face of the web, earning the popular title of version 2.0. However, Flash offers some essential multimedia capabilities that JavaScript alone cannot yet offer. This includes audio support. It’s no coincidence that Bejeweled for iPhone is mute. Especially considering that many iPhone users may have stereo headsets plugged in during use, there are unimaginable uses for audio based applications, especially when combined with locative media technologies. Imagine a sort of audiopedia. The differences don’t start and end with audio support, however. Even Apple’s newly touted Web Gallery feature, part of a .Mac subscription with the iLife personal media suite needs to use Flash for its carousel photo browsing interface.⁴ Indeed, only the Flash Player offers the multimedia engine to manipulate the images as a responsive interface with the reach required on this consumer grade product.

I Want My MTV

Certainly, the most common deployment of Flash Player on the web recently is for web video. It was almost shocking to watch the FLV video format surpass RealPlayer, Windows Media and QuickTime as the most important, influential web video format, in what seemed like a matter of months, with much thanks to YouTube and others. A recent Adobe Flash Player 9 public beta featured H.264 video support, which seems part of its strategy to preserve the dominance of Flash video, especially as Apple and Google migrate towards this non-Flash based video standard. However, until the myriad of embedded SWF FLV players on perhaps billions of web pages get updated to auto-detect the client and deliver the appropriate video by codec, the web will still appear to be littered with missing plugins on Mobile Safari.

Assumptions and Speculations

Let’s proceed with the assumption that Walt Mossberg was correct, and indeed, Apple and Adobe have reached an agreement to release Flash Player iPhone in some manifestation, at some time. Of course, he could be blindly speculating like the rest of us, just running on the fact that it feels crazy for Flash not to be there. But, let’s hope he’s as well-connected and respected as they say he is.⁵ There are several scenarios for the future of Flash iPhone, which should only contribute to the over-saturated discourse by further complicating the biased opinions with an understanding of Adobe’s perspective, previously, and conveniently left out of the discussion.

A Straight Port of Flash Player 9

In this scenario, Adobe compiles the current version of the desktop Flash Player 9 for the ARM processor of iPhone. This scenario would allow all of the existing web-based Flash content to function within Mobile Safari. Authors who create content in ActionScript 3 would enjoy a noticeable improvement of performance and energy efficiency on the iPhone, since this type of content would play in the more recent Flash Virtual Machine, a marked improvement over previous runtime environments, across Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. However, the vast majority of Flash content on the web right now was created in ActionScript 1.0 and 2.0, and so does not take advantage of the improvements to the runtime. Indeed, the skeptics are correct when they assume that running web pages with Flash content, even animated banners, would put an unfortunate drain on the battery.However, what’s crucially missing from a simple straight-on port of Flash Player 9 for iPhone is a substantial confrontation with the multi-touch interface. This is likely the deal-breaker for this scenario. Although, ActionScript and Flash button symbols might offer some means of developing and designing for the iPhone’s multi-touch interface, it’s more than likely that despite the best efforts of Flash coders, the existing means to respond to mouse-based interactions will fall short of the requirements needed to respond to multi-touch. Gestures like pinch, tap-zoom, and flick are difficult to imagine as ActionScript events. Indeed, Adobe probably needs to reckon with the reality that ActionScript needs a true multi-touch API. This could be one of the many reasons why we can only assume that iPhone Flash is in development now, and may be for quite some time, especially based on Apple’s delay in releasing an official iPhone SDK.

Probability: Very Low

Flash Player 10

Looking into 2008, perhaps third or fourth quarter, we have to assume that Adobe will continue to release improved versions of the Flash Player. Version 10 is likely to provide Adobe with the required release cycle needed to fully contend with Apple’s native iPhone application API and SDK release schedule. It’s much more likely that ActionScript libraries will be written that allow true response to the multi-touch gestures, such as pinching, flicking and zoom-tapping. It’s really difficult to imagine a Flash Player on iPhone without this crucial ActionScript API.Furthermore, this allows Adobe to potentially release new versions of the Flash and Flex authoring tools that will compile in Flash Player 10, and subsequently, support a runtime environment that is tuned to the needs of the ARM architecture and precious battery life. It’s been frustrating to read the Flash iPhone haters and their blatant neglect for Adobe’s expertise in the area of building a Flash Player for mobile devices. There has simply been no mention of the possibility of Flash Lite for iPhone.

Probability: Medium

Flash Lite 2.1

Flash Lite is a very special version of the Flash Player for mobile devices, such as Symbian Series 60, Windows Mobile and others. It is not the Flash Player that typically sits in an embedded browser, like the vast majority of Flash content out there. Instead, Flash Lite content exists as standalone, full-screen, mobile applications, or more appropriate mobile media implementations such as a standby screens, wallpapers, screen-savers, and even the device’s native UI.Not only is Flash Lite compiled to the particular device, and so is limited by its processing and memory capabilities, but it also has proven to be very energy efficient, accordingly. Indeed, authors must specifically design and code for Flash Lite. It is in no way, a conversion from desktop Flash content. In this manner, designers and developers alike, are rightly forced to contend with the requirements of mobile media, in terms of interface, content and use-case considerations.It’s possible that Adobe could port Flash Lite to iPhone instead of the expected desktop Flash Player. In this regard, Flash Player would exists as a widget on the SpringBoard home-screen of iPhone, and not as a Mobile Safari plugin. Although it would not fix countless broken plugins in pages that use Flash Player, it would offer mobile media design opportunities for Flash on iPhone. Specifically, Flash Lite already offers APIs to interact with mobile phone specific features, such as triggering the vibrate, detecting battery life, and cell network signal strength. These capabilities are not offered on the desktop version of Flash Player, and may or may not be available in Apple’s official native iPhone application API or SDK. Only time will tell.In this scenario, Flash Lite becomes an avenue for designers and developers familiar with Adobe’s toolsets to create applications that exist as standalone native experiences, rather than embedded modules of Mobile Safari. In many ways, this supports the special needs of mobile media more appropriately than simply making the familiar Flash just work. Imagining a port of Flash Lite for iPhone could mean the opening of a vast market for native iPhone widget applications, designed by designers, and not restricted to hard-core Objective C programmers. Indeed, this is a threatening prospect for those that are eager to carve out a niche in iPhone application development. However, Flash Lite 2.1 probably does not offer the means to react to multi-touch gestures like pinch, flick and tap-zoom, and so it’s probably not the version we will eventually see.

Probability: Low

Flash Lite 3

Just as the desktop Flash Player is constantly updated, the mobile Flash Lite player is also expected to be evolving. It is said, that a forthcoming version of the Flash Lite player, perhaps 3, will bridge the gap between the embedded browser Flash content and the standalone mobile specific Flash Lite content.⁶ In other words, Flash Lite 3 could play not just in the mobile device’s web browser, but could also run within its native operating system environment. This jives with Adobe’s efforts to seed the use of Flash outside of the browser and distribute a desktop based native runtime, called AIR, the Adobe Integrated Runtime. In addition, a Flash Lite 3 would address the concerns of a multi-touch API, and the required energy efficiencies for battery life, memory usage and processor cycling, as well as provide ActionScript to trigger mobile device specific features intrinsic to Flash Lite.In this case, Flash would exist in two manifestations on iPhone: as standalone native applications on the SpringBoard home screen, and as a Mobile Safari plugin, playing the usual desktop based content. This gives developers, designers and end-users the best of all worlds. Flash content can be created with mobile use in mind, considering the unique user interface and energy efficiency required. Everyday users will enjoy not only the full multimedia web they’ve grown accustomed to on the desktop, but also will enjoy a market of native mobile applications that arguably, the Objective C programmers of the world, simply cannot singlehandedly service.

Probability: Medium-High

Conclusions

Flash will appear on iPhone eventually. There is no doubt that Adobe will roadmap this device into its strategy for Flash Player, Flash Lite, or both.Yes, there are significant performance, interface and user considerations that must be addressed as Flash appears on iPhone. Adobe has already demonstrated an accomplished ability to service the mobile media market. It’s only a matter of when, and what form iPhone Flash takes as it appears beneath our beloved glass multi-touch screens.One can only imagine the pressure Adobe’s product planners are putting on its Flash Player team to fit iPhone into the needs of the short-term and long-term strategy. In the short term, Adobe needs to get Flash on iPhone within the next three to six months to capture the required developer and designer audience, and compete with the ascendancy of Mobile Safari and native iPhone applications. In the long term, Adobe needs to get it right, and release a iPhone Flash Player that addresses the specific needs of both mobile media and the vast legacy of desktop Flash content out there. A premature release could spell long term disaster for Flash, as it needs to compete with the rapidly expanding Open Source and Web Standards movement. We haven’t mentioned Microsoft’s entry into the web media space with its recently launched Silverlight platform, but until we stumble upon a site that actually uses it, it’s irrelevant.Although there are many who would like Flash to just go away, because it’s not open source, not free, and tends to be used to bombard us with annoying banner ads and horrible interface design models, Flash is not going away anytime soon. However, how Apple and Adobe navigate the uncharted territory of merging mobile and desktop user experiences along with multi-touch interfaces, will certainly determine the relevance of Flash in the years to come.

Footnotes

1. See Adobe statistics on Flash Player downloads.
2. See Roughly Drafted’s analysis.
3. See A List Apart’s analysis.
4. See Cabel Sasser’s Twitter which claims dibs on this observation.
5. See the profile of Walt Mossberg in the New Yorker.
6. Speculative, but based on reliable, but undisclosed interactions with Adobe. Also, see Bill Perry’s entry on the subject.

Nullriver Software releases full GUI iPhone Installer

iPhone enthusiasts and novices rejoice as the first native application installation software is released allowing you to install and maintain 3rd party iPhone applications in a user-friendly, graphical interface. Multi-step command-line hacking is no longer required to get programs installed into your iPhone. A natural Mac installer automates the process of getting the installer set up on your iPhone. Enjoy the beta before it goes shareware, as widely anticipated. This makes our own step-by-step guide← and countless others somewhat obsolete!

Download AppTapp Beta →

As companies embed full-fledged computers into consumer entertainment products, such as Sony PSP, Apple TV, and iPhone, and then proceed to lock them down to restrict their functionality in the name of stability and security, legions of enthusiasts heed the call to open them up again, to enjoy the computer hidden within.

At the time of this posting, iPhone Modding is very difficult for the inexperienced — not for the faint-of-heart or command-line averse. After a lot of trial-and-error and hours of research, we have installed some third-party standalone applications into the Spring Board (iPhone Home Screen). We can only assume that as modders enjoy more success, and more true third-party programs are written, more user-friendly applications will be released to streamline and simplify the process. That said, crude, but essential tools are starting to appear that allow a patient, persistent and somewhat fearless enthusiast to get started modding.

As you can see from the screenshot, the highlight of the modding is the installation of a Nintendo NES emulator which can put hundreds of games at your fingertips. Although, obtaining the game ROMs is of dubious legality, and the games lack sound and many have buggy graphics. The real lesson learned in this exercise is that there’s probably a very good reason why iPhone didn’t launch with any games — the multi-touch interface truly requires a comprehensive rethinking of game design and controls.

A Do-It-Yourself Work Ethic Required

Only recently, a step-by-step iPhone modification guide suitable for beginners→ emerged for getting started. Since, then, we’ve written our own guide← that consolidates and adds detail, especially for beginners. By far, most articles out there at the moment, assume you are familiar with UNIX and know about toolchains.→

At posting, the modding possibilities are nascent, including adding the following new applications and features into an iPhone:

• Custom ring tones
• Custom graphics and skins
• Screenshot tool →
• Sound recording application →
  
• Tetris →
• TicTacToe →
• Nintendo NES Emulator →

Where To Begin

The iFuntastic↓tool, while crude, is a good place to get started and become familiar with the Jailbreak process. → It’s helpful to install this first, as it does get you started with the ardous process of setting up the toolchain. Use iFuntastic to do simple, but high-impact modifications, such as alter the Spring Board (home screen), customize iPhone UI graphic files, and easily add custom ringtones. iFuntastic only supports Mac Intel machines at this time.

An essential alternative to iFuntastic is iActivator↓, which also peforms the Jailbreak process and manipulates the activation process, and works on Mac Intel and older PowerPC systems.

In addition, we figured out iphonedisk→, which mounts some parts of the iPhone file system as a network drive for easy drag-and-drop file installation.

But first, there are so many dependent programmer tools that must first be installed, including subversion and specialized iPhone modding tools like the unfortunately named iPHUC→. A decent guide for installing iPHUC→ is available.

The main key to gaining access to your iPhone is enabling SSH→, which allows secure command line access to the iPhone’s UNIX file system. However, this should be carefully considered, as enabling this feature certainly opens your iPhone up to future hackers who will now have a way into your handheld computer as you wander through open WiFi networks.

At the moment, the various executives at AT&T and Apple have nothing to worry about. This mod movement is restricted to the realm of enthusiasts. But it’s only a matter of time before refined GUI interfaces for iPhone customization and third-party application development and management emerge. Remember that modders got Windows to boot on the Mac Intel machines very quickly. Apple responded with Boot Camp offering native, official support to be offered in Mac OS X Leopard (10.5). It’s not a matter of if but when a truly open iPhone platform appears.

Doesn’t the iPhone look even better with a full set of buttons?