Read from the CEO himself after the break.

Apple has a long relationship with Adobe. In fact, we met Adobe’s founders when they were in their proverbial garage. Apple was their first big customer, adopting their Postscript language for our new Laserwriter printer. Apple invested in Adobe and owned around 20% of the company for many years. The two companies worked closely together to pioneer desktop publishing and there were many good times. Since that golden era, the companies have grown apart. Apple went through its near death experience, and Adobe was drawn to the corporate market with their Acrobat products. Today the two companies still work together to serve their joint creative customers – Mac users buy around half of Adobe’s Creative Suite products – but beyond that there are few joint interests.

I wanted to jot down some of our thoughts on Adobe’s Flash products so that customers and critics may better understand why we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. Adobe has characterized our decision as being primarily business driven – they say we want to protect our App Store – but in reality it is based on technology issues. Adobe claims that we are a closed system, and that Flash is open, but in fact the opposite is true. Let me explain.

First, there’s “Open”.

Adobe’s Flash products are 100% proprietary. They are only available from Adobe, and Adobe has sole authority as to their future enhancement, pricing, etc. While Adobe’s Flash products are widely available, this does not mean they are open, since they are controlled entirely by Adobe and available only from Adobe. By almost any definition, Flash is a closed system.

Apple has many proprietary products too. Though the operating system for the iPhone, iPod and iPad is proprietary, we strongly believe that all standards pertaining to the web should be open. Rather than use Flash, Apple has adopted HTML5, CSS and JavaScript – all open standards. Apple’s mobile devices all ship with high performance, low power implementations of these open standards. HTML5, the new web standard that has been adopted by Apple, Google and many others, lets web developers create advanced graphics, typography, animations and transitions without relying on third party browser plug-ins (like Flash). HTML5 is completely open and controlled by a standards committee, of which Apple is a member.

Apple even creates open standards for the web. For example, Apple began with a small open source project and created WebKit, a complete open-source HTML5 rendering engine that is the heart of the Safari web browser used in all our products. WebKit has been widely adopted. Google uses it for Android’s browser, Palm uses it, Nokia uses it, and RIM (Blackberry) has announced they will use it too. Almost every smartphone web browser other than Microsoft’s uses WebKit. By making its WebKit technology open, Apple has set the standard for mobile web browsers.

Second, there’s the “full web”.

Adobe has repeatedly said that Apple mobile devices cannot access “the full web” because 75% of video on the web is in Flash. What they don’t say is that almost all this video is also available in a more modern format, H.264, and viewable on iPhones, iPods and iPads. YouTube, with an estimated 40% of the web’s video, shines in an app bundled on all Apple mobile devices, with the iPad offering perhaps the best YouTube discovery and viewing experience ever. Add to this video from Vimeo, Netflix, Facebook, ABC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, ESPN, NPR, Time, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, People, National Geographic, and many, many others. iPhone, iPod and iPad users aren’t missing much video.

Another Adobe claim is that Apple devices cannot play Flash games. This is true. Fortunately, there are over 50,000 games and entertainment titles on the App Store, and many of them are free. There are more games and entertainment titles available for iPhone, iPod and iPad than for any other platform in the world.

Third, there’s reliability, security and performance.

Symantec recently highlighted Flash for having one of the worst security records in 2009. We also know first hand that Flash is the number one reason Macs crash. We have been working with Adobe to fix these problems, but they have persisted for several years now. We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash.

In addition, Flash has not performed well on mobile devices. We have routinely asked Adobe to show us Flash performing well on a mobile device, any mobile device, for a few years now. We have never seen it. Adobe publicly said that Flash would ship on a smartphone in early 2009, then the second half of 2009, then the first half of 2010, and now they say the second half of 2010. We think it will eventually ship, but we’re glad we didn’t hold our breath. Who knows how it will perform?

Fourth, there’s battery life.

To achieve long battery life when playing video, mobile devices must decode the video in hardware; decoding it in software uses too much power. Many of the chips used in modern mobile devices contain a decoder called H.264 – an industry standard that is used in every Blu-ray DVD player and has been adopted by Apple, Google (YouTube), Vimeo, Netflix and many other companies.

Although Flash has recently added support for H.264, the video on almost all Flash websites currently requires an older generation decoder that is not implemented in mobile chips and must be run in software. The difference is striking: on an iPhone, for example, H.264 videos play for up to 10 hours, while videos decoded in software play for less than 5 hours before the battery is fully drained.

When websites re-encode their videos using H.264, they can offer them without using Flash at all. They play perfectly in browsers like Apple’s Safari and Google’s Chrome without any plugins whatsoever, and look great on iPhones, iPods and iPads.

Fifth, there’s Touch.

Flash was designed for PCs using mice, not for touch screens using fingers. For example, many Flash websites rely on “rollovers”, which pop up menus or other elements when the mouse arrow hovers over a specific spot. Apple’s revolutionary multi-touch interface doesn’t use a mouse, and there is no concept of a rollover. Most Flash websites will need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices. If developers need to rewrite their Flash websites, why not use modern technologies like HTML5, CSS and JavaScript?

Even if iPhones, iPods and iPads ran Flash, it would not solve the problem that most Flash websites need to be rewritten to support touch-based devices.

Sixth, the most important reason.

Besides the fact that Flash is closed and proprietary, has major technical drawbacks, and doesn’t support touch based devices, there is an even more important reason we do not allow Flash on iPhones, iPods and iPads. We have discussed the downsides of using Flash to play video and interactive content from websites, but Adobe also wants developers to adopt Flash to create apps that run on our mobile devices.

We know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps and hinders the enhancement and progress of the platform. If developers grow dependent on third party development libraries and tools, they can only take advantage of platform enhancements if and when the third party chooses to adopt the new features. We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers.

This becomes even worse if the third party is supplying a cross platform development tool. The third party may not adopt enhancements from one platform unless they are available on all of their supported platforms. Hence developers only have access to the lowest common denominator set of features. Again, we cannot accept an outcome where developers are blocked from using our innovations and enhancements because they are not available on our competitor’s platforms.

Flash is a cross platform development tool. It is not Adobe’s goal to help developers write the best iPhone, iPod and iPad apps. It is their goal to help developers write cross platform apps. And Adobe has been painfully slow to adopt enhancements to Apple’s platforms. For example, although Mac OS X has been shipping for almost 10 years now, Adobe just adopted it fully (Cocoa) two weeks ago when they shipped CS5. Adobe was the last major third party developer to fully adopt Mac OS X.

Our motivation is simple – we want to provide the most advanced and innovative platform to our developers, and we want them to stand directly on the shoulders of this platform and create the best apps the world has ever seen. We want to continually enhance the platform so developers can create even more amazing, powerful, fun and useful applications. Everyone wins – we sell more devices because we have the best apps, developers reach a wider and wider audience and customer base, and users are continually delighted by the best and broadest selection of apps on any platform.

Conclusions.

Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice. Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short.

The avalanche of media outlets offering their content for Apple’s mobile devices demonstrates that Flash is no longer necessary to watch video or consume any kind of web content. And the 200,000 apps on Apple’s App Store proves that Flash isn’t necessary for tens of thousands of developers to create graphically rich applications, including games.

New open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win on mobile devices (and PCs too). Perhaps Adobe should focus more on creating great HTML5 tools for the future, and less on criticizing Apple for leaving the past behind.

Steve Jobs
April, 2010

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Phil Schiller’s keynote brought to us new products, ranging from new (and now cheaper) MacBook Pro family of notebooks, Snow Leopard features preview as well as what everyone’s been waiting for, the iPhone.

After many months of rumors across the internet, Apple has finally let the cat out of the bag yesterday, with the announcement of a new revised iPhone, dubbed the iPhone 3G S.

Just one year after the original iPhone 3G was announced and then released, the new updated iPhone 3G S boasts new features like larger storage capacity (32GB option), faster CPU translating to faster everything, 7.2 Mbps HSDPA modem for faster data over the network, digital compass that provides a much-welcomed assistance when using mapping applications, as well as an upgraded 3 mega pixel camera capable of recording video.

Some neat little additions worth mentioning include an auto-focus feature for the camera that works across both still and video modes – exactly like what the rumors speculated. Also, iPhone 3G S is your mobile iMovie in action. Any video clips taken can be edited right from the iPhone itself and then shared across email, MMS or even for uploading to YouTube. Both the auto-focus and video-editing feature set was not seen in any other smartphones so far.

Check out the specs for the new iPhone 3G S here: http://www.apple.com/iphone/specs.html. One nifty little feature I noticed is that the iPhone 3G S has got a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating for the multi-touch display, something that the original iPhone and iPhone 3G doesn’t have.

The new iPhone 3G S will start to be available this coming June 19. It will gradually roll out across the other countries where iPhones are available, starting July 9. Pricing for the iPhone 3G S starts at $199 for the 16GB model, and $299 for the 32GB model. Apple decided to maintain the original iPhone 3G at $99 for the 8GB model, thus opening up for a much higher adoption rate. Note that these prices are valid in the USA and comes with a contract with (urgh!) AT&T.

Apple has put up a 15-minute guided tour video of the new iPhone 3G S, spelling out its new features. Follow this link to whet your appetite: http://www.apple.com/iphone/guidedtour/.

You might also want to check out the WWDC 2009 Keynote Address, available in both standard and high-definition format streams here: http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/keynote/.

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Yeah, the WWDC keynote by Phil Schiller starts in about 10 minutes.
If you came here looking for some updates, here are some sites that you could visit – many of which are ‘live’.

MacRumorsLive – http://www.macrumorslive.com
gdgt live – http://live.gdgt.com/2009/06/08/live-wwdc-2009-keynote-coverage/
The Apple Blog – http://theappleblog.com/live/
Engadget – http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/08/phil-schiller-keynote-live-from-wwdc-2009/

Also some Twitter feeds:

TUAW – http://twitter.com/tuaw_wwdc
Ars Technica @ WWDC – http://twitter.com/arswwdc

And if you must, old-style IRC chatrooms!

MacRumors – irc://irc2.teknohost.com/macrumors
MacRumorsChat – irc://irc2.teknohost.com/macrumorschat

Rumors has it that Steve Jobs may be making an appearance. Keep your eyes peeled!

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With WWDC just about a week’s time away, rumors of new devices, especially new iPhone models continue to sweep the interwebs like it does come every other Apple season, the other being MacWorld.

Here’s one of the later pieces to appear. Spies have managed to capture, in clear view, this year’s banner for WWDC. It says: One year later. Light-years ahead.

If you look closely enough, it’s covered with the many iPhone application icons – which tells the obvious – the slogan describes the long road Apple and the iTunes App Store has covered since it opened its virtual doors almost a year ago in July 11, 2008. As of this writing, the App Store’s over 45,000 applications on offer, and 1 billion downloads later, is obviously the best success story for 2008, and if not one of the greatest software platform success stories ever. This banner alone tells us that there’s more beyond venturing into places where no iPhone has gone before. Keep your eyes peeled.

On the iPhone, there’s been a series of leaked blurry photos, displaying several of the rumored features, such as auto-focus camera and digital compass. Another set compared the quality of photos taken using existing hardware against the new rumored hardware – with signs of obvious significant improvement in image quality. One should take notice immediately of the nifty autofocus feature in the new hardware’s – move a little blue square with your finger to set camera focus. Apple 2.0 has all the details, check it out here.

There also seems to be rumors of the new iPhone having a matte backing instead of the current glossy, finger-print magnet. I find this a blessing, after having to deal with finger prints on my older iPods. What about the Apple logo? Yes, the groups of people who chose to remain anonymous has said that the logo might glow and act as camera flash. I am buying this rumor – it’ll look awesome, don’t you think?

Aside to these developments, one things quite sure is that iPhone OS 3.0 will most likely make its debut come WWDC. It was announced way back in March and is currently in the form of Beta 5. The recently-concluded Push Notification beta testing for iPhone 3.0 that Apple run with its developer sets this fact even further in stone.

Keep your calendars booked. WWDC 2009 starts next Monday, June 8 2009. Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing will be presenting the keynote for the event. Stay tuned.

P/S: For a limited time, Lonely Planet will be giving away their San Francisco City Guide iPhone application, a $15.99 value. If you are attending WWDC this year, make sure to grab a copy and plan out your trip to beautiful city of the Golden Gate. Here’s the iTunes link: Lonely Planet San Francisco City Guide

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Hello, Apple! What took you so long?

After years of using http://www.applemalaysia.com.my as their home page (with a Store button that links to nothing but a list of retailers), Apple finally opened its virtual doors to an official online store for the Malaysian market. The helpline even interacts in Bahasa Malaysia.

Eligible individuals, students, faculty or staff member of educational institutions may also purchase from the store for a discount. We tried that and noticed that prices of most products were discounted by about RM200.

Now, what’s so great about purchasing from the Online Store? For a start, you get to customise your Mac as well as engrave those iPods for Christmas. Also, you get to speak with Mac and iPod experts, which will also converse in the national language. Just call 1800-80-6419. And best of all, free shipping if your order exceeds RM250. No more getting yourself stuck in a traffic jam!

Apple is commemorating the store’s grand opening by giving away a free limited-edition Apple T-shirt for every Mac or iPod purchase by 24 November, 2008. If you have been eyeing that iPod touch for a loved one, wait no more. Engrave your lovely message for free and get it shipped right to their doorstep. You get the T-shirt as a bonus. Good? I say great!

Now go give them a visit! Bookmark http://store.apple.com/my.

One more thing, a colleague reminded me that the opening of the Online Store could be one step towards Apple selling the iPhone here locally in Malaysia. Yes, the iPhone (3G)! Let’s hope that this rumor turns out true just in time for Christmas. Yay!

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