Nokia Embraces Macromedia Flash


At Macromedia, we're all about great experiences. And we're extremely focused on enabling great experiences on mobile phones, which is why we're so excited about our partnership with Nokia. The world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia recently agreed to integrate Macromedia Flash technology into its Series 60 Platform. The Series 60 Platform, built on the Symbian OS, is the world's leading smartphone platform, with millions of devices in the market.

What does this mean to operators, Series 60 licensees, and service providers? The agreement will enable operators to quickly and cost-efficiently build rich, innovative services that can be directly deployed across Series 60-based devices. It also means more integrated solutions for new and existing handsets; faster deployment of new products and services; more innovative platforms for delivering great mobile experiences; and access to over one million Flash developers who are skilled and ready to deliver a new generation of digital experiences using Flash Lite, the Flash Player profile for mobile phones.

For consumers, it means a new range of experiences on Nokia handsets. It also means faster and easier downloads and a much larger variety of content services.

The number of Flash-enabled devices available to consumers continues to increase at a dramatic pace. In addition to Nokia, numerous manufacturers and operators have announced plans to launch more Flash-enabled products and services in the coming months. At the same time, the Flash developer community is forging ahead and pushing the mobile experience to new heights.

We're thrilled to be working closely with Nokia. And we're looking forward to working with all our partners to dramatically expand and improve the mobile experience worldwide. We hope you enjoy the third edition of our quarterly Mobile and Devices Newsletter. We look forward to working with you to change the way your customers experience mobile data.

Vera Sparre, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Mobile & Devices

Mobile data services are finally starting to take off around the world, and are expected to quickly become a primary method for consumers to interact with companies, information, and each other. However, today the mobile experience is still substandard. Existing services are slow, and one can hardly describe a mobile experience as visually rich, intuitive, or personal.

Perhaps the biggest issue, as far as usability and experience are concerned, is that many designers and developers look to the web as a model for designing mobile interfaces. But the web is not the right model for mobile UIs.

Most people view the web on a desktop or laptop monitor, which can accommodate intuitive design and easily display large amounts of information. This experience cannot be directly translated to the much smaller phone screens. In addition, unlike our usage of the Internet, we use mobile phones in frequent, short bursts—on the road, on the run—and we want to receive an immediate response. But right now, we're not getting that immediacy from mobile services.

Flash is changing this situation. With Flash-enabled phones, already ubiquitous in Japan, mobile data services can be turned into rich, compelling mobile experiences. Flash files are compact, scale to different screen resolutions, and can download data quickly even on bandwidth-constrained devices. And, because the interaction logic is stored locally on the phone, the user response times are immediate. According to a recent Yankee Group report, "Flash technology proves invaluable on the phone because it saves clicks, provides a better visual experience and enables faster access to content."

Instead of coding mobile content and applications in C or Java, we encourage you to tap into our vast community of Flash developers and see what they can do for you. For examples, visit the Flash Mobile Gallery.

Mike Sundermeyer, Senior Vice President, Product Design

Flash-enabled devices make mobile applications and data services more compelling for consumers, resulting in greater service usage, increased revenue, and product differentiation for handset manufacturers and service providers. The developer base already exists—more than one million Flash developers are skilled and ready to deliver a new generation of digital experiences using Flash Lite.

In fact, there is such intense need for Flash-based mobile applications and services that many developers are already building them on their own initiative. Read the full story