San Jose, California-based Adobe has addressed the cellphone and mobile device world since 2004 with Flash Lite, and to date 100 million Flash Lite-enabled units have been shipped around the globe. Two other landmarks this year were Verizon Wireless announcing the first US Flash mobile service, and Samsung shipping the first handset with Flash-based UI in Europe.
However, that is all confined to high-end devices with sufficiently powerful processors to handle the app. The move with Actimagine is designed to extend Flash Lite’s reach by leveraging the Paris-based ISV’s ability to deliver high-quality displays with low CPU requirements, with the added benefits of limiting overheating, reducing battery power consumption and lowering hardware costs.
This is a further example of what has traditionally been thought of as high-end functionality for cellphones moving down into the more mainstream segments of the market. As part of the deal, Actimagine will also incorporate existing and future versions of Flash Lite into its offerings. Adobe CEO Andre Pagnac said the plan is to combine it with Actimagine’s Mobichip video codec software.
