Want Macromedia Flash Player for Pocket PC? It's Free Again!

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/devices/articles/fp6_pocketpc_removal.html' target='_blank'>http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/de...pc_removal.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"The Pocket PC is a versatile device that has evolved over the past five years into something more than just a personal organizer. As one of the first consumer devices to support Macromedia Flash technology, it has shown us many great examples of Flash content. On October 3 we decided to remove the free Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC from our site for various reasons. After doing so, however, you - our developer community - let us know that you were not happy with the decision. You gave us your feedback by contacting us directly, expressing your opinions in our forums and other Pocket PC developer forums. Some of you spoke with me directly about this topic. Thanks to everyone who voiced concerns and contacted us. We appreciate your feedback and perspective, and most importantly, we appreciate your taking the time to let us know. As of October 11 we are making the free Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC download available for developers again."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20050430-Flash.jpg" /><br /><br />After <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/index.php?action=expand,43423">last week's astounding response</a> to the removal of the free Flash Player for Pocket PCs, Macromedia took note, and just today, they decided to act in the interest of the community by making the Flash Player freely available once again. This probably wouldn't have been possible without the countless number of developers and end-users voicing their opinion on the matter, so a big kudos to all of you who were able to make this happen! :way to go:

[kaitanium]

what a coincidence. yesterday night i was about to download flash for my ppc but instead found the links missing and finding that i had to pay for some developer or distribution kit? i got all sad that i couldnt view flash websites. but YAY its back! actually looks like the link is broken, but still nice to know its back sort of!

[aNiMeMaN14]

haha i wonder if anyone actually bought it during that one week

[Jon Westfall]

Yep, the link is broken. Being the PPC Packrat I am, I was ready to go download a copy and keep it filed safely away in case something were to change again.

Perhaps we as users should set up a secret freeware / freely distributed file store as to prevent the "yesterday it was free" phenomenon. I get to be the keymaster... ;)

[SteveHoward999]

Perhaps we as users should set up a secret freeware / freely distributed file store as to prevent the "yesterday it was free" phenomenon. I get to be the keymaster... ;)


That's why I have about 3 Gb of installers on my laptop .... just in case ...

[Jason Dunn]

Cool - the power of community triumphs! Kudos to Macromedia for listening, many companies wouldn't...

[dangerwit]

The frosted side of me says "Way to go! A small victory for us little folk!" :)

But the wheat side of me says "Maybe this was the plan all along, to generate some loyalty."

One thing is for sure: I'm sick of those commercials.

*Phil

[SteveHoward999]

Macromedia is not the only company to take criticism when making decisions. I have worked with them for years and I know they consider it important to listen to their users. Here's a great example of them doing just that.

Now we just need to shout louder for a Flash 8 player for PPC ...

[Eriq Cook]

That's why I'm glad sites like this exist

[frankenbike]

If I were a developer, and were depending on users have the free Flash player to use my product, I'd really think twice about using Macromedia Flash.

[szamot]

yeah, it was nothing more than an ingenius marketing ploy and you all fell for it. Shame on you guys. :)

[pewter_tankard]

Now we just need to shout louder for a Flash 8 player for PPC ...

..and didn't that have something to do with Macromedia pulling the free download in the first place? The Flash Player for PPC has always lagged behind its equivalent version on the desktop platforms. Flash 7 and Flash 8 added new stuff which developers can use... but not on a PPC. I took the earlier announcement to pull the PPC Flash Player as an admission that Macromedia didn't want to develop this any further.

Of course, if Macromedia don't develop the PPC Flash Player, the cost of supporting a "legacy" player will increase as their support staff have to maintain skills in both the old and new versions.

[clevewaterman]

Macromedia is making the Player freely available, but that doesn't mean it will work with Windows Mobile 5.

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/devices/articles/fp6_pocketpc_removal.html
When you download the free player, it is provided "as-is"—which means that Macromedia will support it only for Pocket PC 2003 OS devices through available online resources on our website. If you experience any problems for noncertified devices, you should discuss them with other developers in various forums.

[SteveHoward999]

Macromedia is making the Player freely available, but that doesn't mean it will work with Windows Mobile 5.
[/i]

Yes but this is because Macromedia do not want to invest in load testing on WM 5. In fact the player does work on WM 5, but they are simply hedging.

[SteveHoward999]

Now we just need to shout louder for a Flash 8 player for PPC ...

..and didn't that have something to do with Macromedia pulling the free download in the first place? The Flash Player for PPC has always lagged behind its equivalent version on the desktop platforms. Flash 7 and Flash 8 added new stuff which developers can use... but not on a PPC. I took the earlier announcement to pull the PPC Flash Player as an admission that Macromedia didn't want to develop this any further.


All my conversations with Macromedia about this over the last couple of years have suggested that they have strong continued interest in PocketPC.

In fact they posted this yesterday:-

Regarding your question about improvements to the Flash Player for PPC:
"We are updating Flash Player for Pocket PC to support a newer version of Flash Player. Although we cannot comment on timing or distribution details, you can expect that when this update is available, it will be distributed in a way that is more closely aligned to the distribution model we've created for Flash Lite."

The latest Flash 8 development tool includes new PocketPC support ... don't ask me exactly what, becuase I don't have my copy of the software yet.

However, that does not explain the lack of Flash 7 or 8 players. My understanding is that the PPC platform is still a little underpowered to cope with the more advanced features of Flash 7 and 8 video, for instance, and the 7 and 8 components are way more processor-heavy than Flash 6 components.

I think, at least in part, we are going to have to be patient to allow PPC processing power to catch up a little more before we can take advantage of a (projected) new player.

[Phillip Dyson]

yeah, it was nothing more than an ingenius marketing ploy and you all fell for it. Shame on you guys. :)

{sniff... sniff} Do I smell "New Coke"? :lol:

[Sven Johannsen]

Someone fill me in. Is this thing a stand-alone flash player that will be associated with swf files? What about the plugin for PIE that lets you view (at least some) flash based content on web pages? Is that still around? Am I confused?

[Gerard]

The ActiveX plugin, or 'flash.dll,' is back. Not a standalone player. The latter is available for $499, but they are only 'encouraging' developers to use that. We end users are again free to download the plugin.

[BevHoward]

We end users are again free to download the plugin.

Curious as why the page makes no mention of end users... from a legal reading of the download page, it appears to say that if you are not a ppc flash developer, you are not allowed to download the player.

Any thoughts?

[Sven Johannsen]

The ActiveX plugin, or 'flash.dll,' is back. Not a standalone player. The latter is available for $499, but they are only 'encouraging' developers to use that. We end users are again free to download the plugin.

Ah, OK. So the "Download Macromedia Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC 2003 Installer (EXE, 473K)" isn't really a flash player, but rather the PIE extension that allows you to view flash in a page. That's all I really cared about anyway. I guess the existance of that dll on my system then allows other developers of flash content, today screens, etc. to access it.

[Sven Johannsen]

We end users are again free to download the plugin.

Curious as why the page makes no mention of end users... from a legal reading of the download page, it appears to say that if you are not a ppc flash developer, you are not allowed to download the player.

Any thoughts?

Good point, Bev. From the letter of the text there isn't really a legitimate way for consumers of the flash content to view it, beyond the flash developer supplying a self running projector with the content. There seems to be no legitimate way for consumers to view flash in PIE if the OEM didn't opt to include the dll, liscenced of course.

Not sure how Macromedia intends to stimulate the desire of content producers to use flash, if content consumption is limited. Adobe's pdf format wouldn't be so popular if the readers weren't free, same with repligo, and HTML editors.

[Gerard]

Curious as why the page makes no mention of end users... from a legal reading of the download page, it appears to say that if you are not a ppc flash developer, you are not allowed to download the player.

Any thoughts?

My thoughts, with Macromedia quotes:

Developers can download the free Macromedia Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC 2003 today and start developing and experiencing rich Macromedia Flash content, enterprise applications and mobile services right from your Pocket PC.

While reading that paragraph I get a bit dizzy. It morphs in a short time from clearly pointing to developers into language ("...content, enterprise applications and mobile services right from your Pocket PC") which seems aimed squarely at end users.

Note: This version of Macromedia Flash Player is for the individual use of developers of Microsoft Pocket PC 2003 devices.

Oops! Back to developers again...

When I look at that page, and at any page on Macromedia's site I've so far encountered, I see a lack of polish. For instance, note the URL of the page - http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/pocketpc/2002.html - clearly suggesting PPC2002 content. But the page title reads: "Macromedia Flash Player 6 for Pocket PC 2003" Well, which is it? Same with the developer/end user language. While they do not specifically mention end users, the cheerleading style and reference to distinctly end user experiences with a PPC browser make it clear enough, for me.

I'd suggest that the semi-literate folks who concoct these statements have instructions to focus on developers for a couple of reasons, both involving propaganda. They got a wake up call from developers and users - they responded to my email among many, calling me a developer, though I am not and have never implied I was. This has motivated them to a) re-release the plugin, but change the language so as to encourage OEMs to license Flash for ROM implementation, and b) court the developer community with encouraging words indicating support... especially if they buy the full version.

Hints of an upcoming version are great. I'll not hold my breath. Flash is sluggish enough today on my 400MHz device, and I can only imagine how Flash8 might bog things down. A modicum of Flash browsing functionality is all I asked, and that has been returned to us. There is nothing specifically disallowing end user downloading of the plugin (besides confusing language), so I regard it as available to all.

[BevHoward]

clearly suggesting PPC2002

They have gotten into confusion over this in the past as well... they often state that the player is for a specific os when it is a general release.

It's been my experience that this works with all arm ppc's if not 2000, then 2002 and 2003.

[davea0511]

Perhaps we as users should set up a secret freeware / freely distributed file store as to prevent the "yesterday it was free" phenomenon. I get to be the keymaster... ;)


That's why I have about 3 Gb of installers on my laptop .... just in case ...

That's awesome! I keep kicking myself for not doing that. That darned wastebasket is too easy to fill.

[davea0511]

I was shocked and confused when they said they were pulling it.

Flash is amazing as a tool. It produces the most platform independent applications in the world. It really has evolved into a fully capable programming environment (if you utilize XML Socket capabilities), and it's a multimedia engine powerhouse.

And it's the only viable scalable vector graphics standard on the internet. We as a developer community, and as web designers were foolish to invest so much of our time and energy into a technology that was not only dominated, but owned, by a single entity. Macromedia has the power to shut down a huge portion of the internet - although antitrust suits would follow, and they would loose all their business to other companies that would create their own free Flash plugins.

Still, we've made them stewards of an amazing technology. I for one will be promoting it as much as possible once again, but I'm going to keep my eye on them like a hawk, and in the mean time support 3rd party efforts to give us a relief pitcher if Macromedia tries to pull a stunt like this again.