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Adobe Builds Media Player for Flash

By Nate Mook, BetaNews

April 16, 2007, 6:34 PM

Adobe on Monday offered visitors of the NAB 2007 conference in Las Vegas a peek at its new Media Player desktop application, designed to play Flash video content without requiring a Web browser. The program, formerly code-named "Philo," will enter beta testing this spring.

Although named as such, Adobe Media Player takes a different approach from that found in Windows Media Player and iTunes. Instead of focusing on existing, local content, the application relies on RSS feeds to receive Flash video. Adobe will essentially provide a virtual storefront, where users can discover new content and subscribe to it.

Users can choose to download certain content for viewing offline, such as video podcasts, television shows and even short films. Adobe has focused on building its Media Player as a platform for publishers, including digital rights management (DRM) capabilities that determine how a specific Flash video can be played back.

Advertisers will be able to choose between making their content freely available and including embedded advertising that cannot be removed, or charging for videos that will be tied to a specific user or computer - much like Apple does with iTunes.

Features of Adobe Media Player include full screen playback, one-click viewer ratings, and a Favorites feature that automatically downloads content. The software is cross-platform -- for Windows and Mac OS X -- and based on open standards including RSS and SMIL.

Adobe Media Player was built using the company's new Apollo platform, which made its official debut in March. Apollo takes scalable vector graphics off the browser without breaking it free from the Web.

Like Java, Apollo will utilize its own HTTP component and its own runtime language - or, more accurately, languages, as it intends to envelop Flash, JavaScript, and the ECMA standard ActionScript developed for Flash. Unlike Java, it will not utilize a "virtual machine" environment for managed code, opting instead for a collection of less revolutionary, existing standards that at least some developers already know.

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By midfingr

posted Apr 10, 2008 - 12:32 PM

Just what we need. Another DRM, advertising, tied to user/computer, bandwidth hogging, getting charged for over usage, breaking hard drive encryption media player. Thanks, but no thanks.

Score: 0

By GCoder

posted Apr 17, 2007 - 10:19 AM

Finally! Sheeesh

Score: 0

By Alex Stevens

posted Apr 16, 2007 - 9:11 PM

Macromedia has had a standalone player for flash files for years now, and it's very lightweight. This looks like a huge bloated media center type mess. Media Player Classic will play flash media too by the way (along with almost everything else). Sorry Adobe, not even remotely interested.

Score: 0

By Secret Agent Man

posted Apr 17, 2007 - 9:51 AM

I've always wondered why Media Player Classic can play just about everything...

Score: 0

By foxfyre

posted Apr 16, 2007 - 9:33 PM

Huh???
Macromedia good; Adobe bad?

I will let someone else tell him that Adobe and Macromedia are the same company now...

Score: 0

By Alex Stevens

edited Apr 16, 2007 - 11:34 PM

You totally misunderstood my post. I know Adobe bought them. I said this is nothing new because Macromedia had a standalone player for years before Adobe bought them. I also did not say that Adobe was bad, I said this looks like a bad program.

Score: 0

By Trendecide

posted Apr 16, 2007 - 8:36 PM

This could be bloatware, but if it actually supports a multitude of formats above and beyond Flash it'll be what every web developer uses and hence what you'll use too.

For instance, if I could embed the player in my website and have the player play an MPEG-4 file (there currently is no web player you can embed that'll play MPEG-4 files... or stream them for that matter), WMV files and even DivX files, I'd use it hands down without questions asked.

My opinion... until someone comes out with a media player that can be embedded in EVERY browser without a crappy active-x plugin, that can play virtually every video format and possibly even support streaming video... bring on the media players. First one to get their butt in gear and actually get it right wins. :)

Score: 0

By Tene

edited Apr 16, 2007 - 9:45 PM

Are you sure VideoLAN can't? I mean, when using a simple
object type="video/mpeg4" data="movie.mp4"/

According to mozdev's plugindoc (http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/winmime.html) video/mp4 is by default handled by Quicktime and video/mpeg4 is handled by VideoLAN.

Score: 0

By ogman

posted Apr 16, 2007 - 8:16 PM

More Adobe bloatware? I'll pass.

Within six months Foxit will have to come out with a media player.

Score: 0

By AntiochMedia

posted Apr 16, 2007 - 9:40 PM

Do they even need to? Media Player Classic is the perfect bloat-free media player, and I hate to say it - but Foobar is the best audio player (I LOVE WinAMP however, it's been taking up an ungodly amount of resources as of recently, which I haven't been able to explain or fix - so I jumped ship to Foobar -- the world's most streamlined player ... and then I tried to add mods and skin it and wasted 2 hours and ended out very frusterated).