Apr
6
Mobile ecosystem? Questions about Flash Lite on VZW
April 6, 2006 | 9 Comments
So I woke up to the news about Verizon Wireless licensing Flash Lite. Cool! But then as I got to reading the press release and the development center page on the Macromedia site, I began to have questions.
First, and most importantly, is this the BREW port? It looks like it is according to the DevNet page (http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/devices/verizon.html). I hope this is not the case, otherwise many developers will be left out in the cold because of the price of entry for BREW.
Second, what is a mobile ecosystem? And how do I, as an independent content creator, get my content onto the system. Would be nice if I could monetize my content as well somehow?
Third, is this Flash Lite 1.1 or 2.0?
I would like to get excited about this since it is the first carrier in the US to license Flash Mobile, however the details are yet explained and without them, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to even participate. Hopefully someone from Adobe/Macromedia reads this and can comment. I understand if the answer is, “just wait, we are ironing out the details.”
I really hope this is a standalone version of the player being distributed and not the BREW port. This would really rock if most VZW handsets came with the Flash Lite runtime installed on them out of the box. EVDO and Flash Lite would combine for a perfect mobile platform. I could really build some useful enterprise apps with those two technologies combined.
Funny quote I saw relating to the announcement: From Reuters: “Steve Lidberg estimated that the move into mobile phone animation could double the number of software programmers using Flash from its current base of 1 million developers.” I find that hard to believe, but what do I know.
Comments
9 Comments so far
Yes, it’s BREW. However, I don’t know if it’s 1.1 or 2.
Thanks Jesse, that is what I was afraid of. So, ecosystem means a BREW “storefront” for Flash Lite based BREW applications. Argh, guess I’ll have to look into BREW again and hope the cost of entry has gone down.
Mike – I’m somewhat unfamiliar with Brew myself as I haven’t really looked at it in a few years. Any chance you could elaborate on the cost of entry today?
For what it’s worth, I don’t feel confident providing info beyond what the participants have already stated, because I get my info third-hand and things can always change before they publicly commit to the next level of detail.
I’ll forward this discussion and others internally to show the need, though.
Thanks John, because we believe the deal involves the BREW port, the question now is, whether content developers can get SWF content onto the platform, or do apps have to be BREW compiled and licensed? If it is a SWF great, if it involves content developers having to learn the ins-and-outs of BREW and pay the licensing fees, then I don’t see a large adoption unfortunately. I guess another question is whether users are going to be able to move SWF files from their machines over to their phone or do they have to come through the BREW network? Thanks again, John.
but isn’t the cost of entry less of a barrier when compared to the potential ROI? Very large carrier (vzw), lots of compatible phones, large install(able) base, etc?
Hwever, cost aside (if I recall less than ~$1,000 for BEW SDK, but I do not recall app testing additional costs), the barrier or challenge may be more carrier approval to ditribute your app in their eco-system…
At this time the only information about the Verizon Wireless Flash mobile ecosystem is what’s publicly available on Adobe’s Verizon Wireless Developer center. As Mike mentioned earlier, once we have more information to share we’ll be communicating it.
best,
Bill
A quick idea of the hidden costs of BREW development. Not specifically Flash Lite but I’m sure these rules will apply to apps developed via the Flash environment>
It’s the handsets. VZW want an approved app to be available on 30 different handsets at launch. This will cover the other BREW carriers too. Alltel, US cellular, Midwest Wireless. Also some international. Though foreign language support may be needed. Also US cellular requires developers to have insurance.
That means sourcing all those handsets. Hello eBay!
Then there will be NSTL approval. You can submit all 30 handsets for $1,300 (approx) but if one fails they all fail. They will tell you which one failed and why. So you hope that some get approved before one takes the rest out.
So between handsets at $150 (approx) each, $4,500 + 4 passes at NSTL, $5,200. You’re looking at $9.5K + before other costs.
The carriers are making the most, and I believe will continue to do so for a few more years, of the control over the handsets they have to keep the walled garden safe.
VZW will tell you if they would approve an app before you start full development. Bare in mind they are swamped with games and unless you have a tie in with a blockbuster movie your chance are slim.
That’s just my experience with the hidden costs of BREW.
[...] Awesome right? Hold on. I’ve written about this before. The very last comment is very informative. As is this information on BREW at Wikipedia. As stated in that entry, the steep cost of entry is a barrier to most hobbyists and independent developers. Which accounts for a high percentage of the Flash Lite developers currently, myself included. [...]