Adobe is stepping up efforts to make Flash technology easier for embedded system designers to use. In May 2008, Adobe and several industry partners announced the Open Screen Project, an effort dedicated to driving rich Internet experiences across televisions, PCs, mobile devices, and consumer electronics.

“Our goal is enabling developers and designers to create content and applications and deploy those not only on PCs around the world, but also across a wide variety of devices in a consistent way,” states Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch. “It’s very hard to deploy content and applications on these different devices, and we’d really like to help change that for users around the world.”

The Open Screen Project is working to enable a consistent runtime environment that will take advantage of Adobe Flash Player and, in the future, Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR). The 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 offer optimal performance across a variety of operating systems and devices, ultimately enhancing the user experience.

To support this mission, Adobe will continue to open access to Adobe Flash technology, accelerating the deployment of content and powerful Internet applications. This work will include:

n Removing licensing restrictions on SWF and FLV/F4V specifications

n Publishing the device porting layer APIs for Adobe Flash Player

n Publishing the Adobe Flash Cast and Action Message Format protocols for robust data services

n Making the next major releases of Adobe Flash Player and AIR available for free

Two leading processor suppliers are participating in the Open Screen Project by contributing unique knowledge and expertise on their respective processor architectures. As part of the Open Screen Project, ARM is partnering with Adobe to optimize Flash Player 10 for the ARMv6 and ARMv7 architectures used in the ARM11 family and the Cortex-A series of processors.

“The focus will be to optimize video codecs, graphics rendering, the virtual machine, and power management for System-on-Chip (SoC) architectures,” explains James Bruce, ARM’s North American mobile solutions manager.

ARM is providing Adobe with engineering resources to create these products, which are expected to be released in the second half of 2009. The effort aims to accelerate mobile graphics and video capabilities on ARM platforms to bring high-quality Internet applications and Web services to mobile devices and consumer electronics everywhere.

“Adobe Flash is the leading video format on the Web today, and this collaboration with ARM is another important step toward bringing the complete Web experience to mobile devices worldwide,” asserts Gary Kovacs, general manager and VP of Adobe’s Mobile and Devices Business Unit. “We are pleased to work with ARM and the other industry leaders in the Open Screen Project to make browsing and applications as rich and powerful in mobile as they are on the desktop.”

Intel is likewise teaming up with Adobe to optimize Flash Player 10 for the Intel Media Processor CE 3100 and future purpose-built Intel SoCs.

“The Open Screen Project is striving to remove barriers for developers and designers as they look to publish content and applications across desktops and devices,” remarks David Wadhwani, general manager and VP of Adobe’s Platform Business Unit. “The Intel Media Processor CE 3100 provides a powerful platform capable of delivering outstanding Flash experiences to millions of homes as a new generation of televisions and set-top boxes makes its way into the living room.”

Intel and Adobe are strategically positioned to support consistent Internet content across PCs, laptops, netbooks, mobile Internet devices, and now TVs, extending the shared business objectives of accelerating deep video and Internet content across the full breadth of consumer devices.

“The Intel Media Processor CE 3100 is a highly integrated solution that provides a powerful yet flexible technology foundation that will bring to life the high-definition capabilities of Adobe Flash,” states William O. Leszinske Jr., general manager of Intel’s Digital Home Group. “Our effort with Adobe is poised to accelerate a rich yet relevant Internet experience on the TV that will provide consumers with access to a growing number of Flash-based applications that will ultimately be enjoyed across a number of screens seamlessly.”

For more information about the Open Screen Project, visit www.openscreenproject.org.