Macromedia Unveils Flash Player for Microsoft Windows-Powered Pocket PCs

Most Distributed Software in the History of the Web Moves Beyond the Desktop
Feb. 19 -- Macromedia today announced the delivery of the Macromedia Flash Player for the Microsoft Windows-powered Pocket PC platform. This announcement is part of Macromedia's continuing strategy to take the Macromedia Flash Player beyond the desktop, allowing distinctive Web applications, user interfaces, educational and entertainment content to be experienced on the next generation of the wireless Web.

Macromedia Flash content can already be experienced on a variety of Internet-enabled devices such as AOL TV, 3Com Audrey, Microsoft WebTV, MSN Web Companion, and the Sony eVilla. With more than 96 percent of desktop users immediately able to view Macromedia Flash content, the Macromedia Flash Player is the most distributed software in the history of the Web.

Today's developer release of the Macromedia Flash Player for the Pocket PC Platform will enable developers to tune their content for these devices in advance of the full-featured version of the player, due later this year.

"Devices are emerging as a major force in the next generation of the Web, and Macromedia Flash is crucial for delivering a great user experience on everything from Pocket PC devices to Internet appliances," said Kevin Lynch, president of Macromedia products. "Support for the Pocket PC platform ensures the continued ubiquity of the Macromedia Flash standard and brings new opportunities for developers to expand their business into this new platform."

Macromedia Flash Player, the standard for viewing high-impact, rich media over all bandwidths, enables the delivery of a broad range of content including entertainment, learning, and business applications to the Microsoft Pocket PC platform, which includes the Compaq iPaq, Casio Cassiopeia, and Hewlett-Packard Jornada devices. Because of the inherent 16-bit color, built-in audio capabilities and up to 206 MHz processing power, devices running the Pocket PC platform provide users with the best Macromedia Flash experience available today on a PDA.

"Microsoft and Macromedia are both committed to the thriving device market and making sure that dominant Web technologies such as Macromedia Flash play a key role in this new space," said Phil Holden, director of marketing for Microsoft Corp. "There's a great synergy in bringing the Macromedia Flash Player to the Pocket PC platform, as the hundreds of thousands of Macromedia Flash developers will know they have an extensive audience, and Pocket PC users will be able to experience some of the best Macromedia Flash content online."

Any of the more than 500,000 Macromedia Flash developers that exist today who are interested in developing content for these devices can download the free Macromedia Flash Authoring Kit for Pocket PC. The kit provides Macromedia Flash 5 authoring guidelines, documentation, and examples for the Pocket PC platform. The kit is available at http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/pocketpc/authoring/.

Because of the tremendous industry interest in Macromedia Flash Player for the Pocket PC Platform, there are already sample Macromedia Flash content and applications available today in a new online gallery at http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/pocketpc/gallery/. This gallery includes Macromedia Flash applications, games, and entertainment to view or download from content partners such as Atom Films, Fallon, FunMail, shockwave.com, Smashing Ideas, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Wildhand! and others.

The developer release of the Macromedia Flash Player for Pocket PC is available today as a free download from http://www.macromedia.com/software/flashplayer/pocketpc/download/.

SOURCE Macromedia, Inc.
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