By Asavin Wattanajantra

We’re not like Apple

AS A SOFTWARE HOUSE, Google is going to support Adobe with better support for Flash in its Chrome browser.

This is encouraging news for Adobe, as it means that it is far too early to declare the death of Flash in favour of the native video rendering alternative available in HTML5.

HTML5 is a revision of HTML which doesn’t require a special player for video. It has been gaining ground thanks to its use on Apple devices like the IPhone, IPod Touch and IPad instead of Flash, which Apple has not disregarded but rather publicly deprecated.

Google’s support also means that Adobe can focus on improving Flash rather than worrying too much about Apple’s complete refusal to have anything to do with Flash on its IPhone and upcoming IPad.

For Google, it says its reason for doing this is that it needs to work with companies like Adobe and Moziila to develop a next-generation browser plug-in API to address the problems of the current browser plug-in model.

As Adobe Flash is the most widely used web browser plug-in, it makes sense. With the support of Google and Chrome pledged, along with support in most other web browsers, it remains to be seen what sort of impact Apple’s stance will have.

Flash is still the dominant form of media for online video, but if Google had taken the same attitude as Apple then the long term viability of Flash might have begun to fall under a cloud.

As it is, Chrome and other browsers’ support for Flash means that its future on websites is reasonably secure – that is if the Iphone and IPad don’t become the dominant devices for viewing video on the Internet.

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