Adobe announced the release of Flash Media Server 4.5 and Flash Access 3.0 which will allow publishers to stream Flash video content. This new release however will also allow Flash Content to be streamed to iOS devices, which obviously do not natively support Flash code.
Computerworld say “With Adobe Flash Media Server 4.5, media publishers now have a single, simple workflow for delivering content using the same stream to Flash-enabled devices or to the Apple iPhone and iPad.”
In other words, Adobe's solution repackages content in real-time, changing the protocol to suit the target device, HTTP Dynamic Streaming or HLS, for example. This should mean that iOS devices will get much of the advantages of Flash video support, without the processor degradation and battery life cost of the format in use on other devices.”
The lack of Flash support for Apple support has been very publicly noted, but it hasn't really affected sales of the products – helped in part with HTML5 versions of video content. The new suite from Adobe won't support interactive Flash content such as games or even advertisements, but it will be able to deliver streaming flash content to iOS devices.
Kitguru says: Adobe are clearly wanting to work around the limitations set in stone by Apple.