Saturday, December 5, 2009, 4:44AM ET - U.S. Markets Closed.

Microsoft Goes After Adobe with Nokia Deal

Posted Mar 04, 2008 10:09am EST by Dan Frommer in Networking and Communication, Software and Services, Products and Trends
Related: adbe, msft, nok
From Silicon Alley Insider, March 4, 2008:

 Microsoft is taking Adobe's Flash head-on in a huge market where its animation/video software hasn't caught on yet: Mobile phones.

Microsoft (MSFT) and Nokia (NOK) said today that they'll make Microsoft's Flash rival, "Silverlight," available for some Nokia/Symbian smartphones and Internet tablets later this year.

It's a big catch for Microsoft: Symbian is the market-leading smartphone operating system, with some 77 million devices sold worldwide last year. And it's just the beginning: A version of Silverlight for Microsoft's own Windows Mobile smartphones will come later this year. We imagine Microsoft will court other phone manufacturers and carriers, too, both of which are eager to get more customers using the mobile Web and mobile multimedia content.

Meanwhile, Adobe's (ADBE) mobile business sits in limbo. Flash has been a huge success on computers, but outside of Japan, it hasn't had much success on mobile phones.

Why not? Money. While Adobe gives its Flash plugin away to consumers for free on computers -- and Nokia smartphones, through a 2005 licensing deal -- it's tried to get mobile phone manufacturers and/or carriers to pay a license fee for each phone it's installed on. That's limited its market share, and peoples' interest in developing Flash content for phones -- and could help Microsoft's rival Silverlight catch on.

See Also: Adobe Flash Coming Soon To Apple iPhones?

Go to Tech Ticker

4 Comments

B
B - Tuesday March 04, 2008 10:26AM EST

great report

report abuse
R.V
R.V - Wednesday March 05, 2008 05:50PM EST

Wake up Adobe, here comes Microsoft.

report abuse
robert
robert - Thursday March 06, 2008 10:43AM EST

MSFT is to late for the game. Flash is embedded in all the cores (ONT DSPs) and Adobes software was one of the best selling softwares last year. Did MSFT just wake up to social networking? Yahoo may help but the flash sites powered by VP6 rock social networking. The VP7 VOIP software is opening up the communication sector to new technology. WI/FI and other WImax technologies are showing broadband can send great quality at reduced cost. MSFT could just be trying to catch a ride on the WEB 2 back. SONY,IBM, Toshiba have a big head start to MSFT slow start. Google could be a major player (open source) with new applications to undo MSFT base product lines. Even Apple is opening up the code for the Ipod/Iphone stores to sell flash application. Jobs will be selling Flash developements and content.

report abuse
robert
robert - Thursday March 06, 2008 10:57AM EST

Flash VP7 and Skype are selling the world to Sony type connections used in the new MYLO. NOK and LG have their models also. These high end mobile phones have all the bells and whistles to move information. New chips can uses the nearest signal and standard for the fastest delivery of information and quality of the best codec Flash, H2.64,Quik, mpeg, VC-1. . Its an all out war again for best video over the web. A lot is at stake for the branding, channeling of content and users. Apple , MSFT, IBM, Adobe, Skype, AOL, yahoo all want to monitize trafic and sell to customers. The Apple store is wide open to developers as Jobs is understanding that other Networks , technologies, could bring him money.

report abuse
Yahoo! reserves the right to refuse, or remove any comment that does not comply with the Yahoo! Terms of Service. The submission of spam, hateful, or obscene messages may result in the termination of your Yahoo! ID.
About Tech Ticker - Send FeedbackDisclaimer. Copyright © 2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright/IP Policy - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy - Help
Quotes delayed, except where indicated otherwise. Delay times are 15 mins for NASDAQ, NYSE and Amex. See also delay times for other exchanges.

Quotes and other information supplied by independent providers identified on the Yahoo! Finance partner page. Quotes are updated automatically, but will be turned off after 25 minutes of inactivity. Quotes are delayed at least 15 minutes for NASDAQ, NYSE and Amex. See also delay times for other exchanges. Real-Time continuous streaming quotes are available through our premium service. You may turn streaming quotes on or off. Fundamental company data provided by Capital IQ. Financials data provided by Edgar Online. Historical chart data and daily updates provided by Commodity Systems, Inc. (CSI). International historical chart data, daily updates, fund summary, fund performance, dividend data and Morningstar Index data provided by Morningstar, Inc. Analyst estimates data provided by Thomson Financial Network. All data provided by Thomson Financial Network is based solely upon research information provided by third party analysts. Yahoo! has not reviewed, and in no way endorses the validity of such data. Yahoo! and ThomsonFN shall not be liable for any actions taken in reliance thereon. All information provided "as is" for informational purposes only, not intended for trading purposes or advice. Neither Yahoo! nor any of independent providers is liable for any informational errors, incompleteness, or delays, or for any actions taken in reliance on information contained herein. By accessing the Yahoo! site, you agree not to redistribute the information found therein.