iPhone and Ipad will play flash videos

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Users of Apple iPhone and iPad will play Flash-based video content

Apple’s iPhone and other mobile devices are well known for not supporting Flash but now media publishers can stream Flash-based video to iPhone and iPads, Adobe Systems has announced.Adobe yesterday released Flash Media Server 4.5, which introduces support for Apple’s iOS mobile operating system. Does this by letting broadcasters stream Flash-based video content in an Apple-derived format, HTTP Live Streaming (HLS). However, the advent of Flash Media Server 4.5 only enables Flash video streaming to iPhone and iPad. Flash-based games, animations and advertisements will still not work for such devices.

Apple’s iPhone and other mobile devices are well known for not supporting Flash, so in April Adobe said it had come up with a workaround. Flash Media Server usually packages video streams using MPEG4 fragments, in the F4F file format. However, the new version adds support for a different protocol, HLS, which Apple created for QuickTime and iOS. Where the media server system detects a lack of Flash support on the client device, it delivers the content in an MPEG2 stream, using the HLS format. HTML 5-capable browsers also support HLS, so using it makes it easier for broadcasters to reach a wider audience.

The end result is that Flash-based video content can now be delivered to iOS devices by using Apple’s technology, in a way that requires almost no extra effort on the part of the publisher. Microsoft has been doing the same thing to get Silverlight-based content onto Apple mobile devices since 2009. However, the advent of Flash Media Server 4.5 only enables Flash video streaming to iPhones and iPads.

iPhone TV and video specs: Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 720p, 30 frames per second, Main Profile level 3.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5Mbps, 640×480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4 and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35Mbps, 1280×720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format. Support for 1024×768 pixels with Apple VGA Adapter; 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable