Mobile door opens to Flash

Sun Microsystems' vision of Java on every cellphone handset is under threat from a flashy competitor.

In the past month Macromedia, which makes tools for web and multimedia developers, has licensed its Flash technology to handset makers Nokia and Samsung.

Australia and New Zealand manager John Biviano said Flash had significant advantages over Java for cellphone application developers.

"The idea of Java was that it be written once, run anywhere, but it turns out with mobile phones and PDAs it doesn't work that way," Biviano said.

"Developers find they have to make adjustments for every different phone operating system.

"That means development time is longer."

He said because Flash applications would run inside other Flash applications, developers could use it to build the phone's graphical user interface (GUI).

Flash is widely used by application and content developers for Japan's Docomo mobile network, which is closely watched by the industry as an innovator in cellphone applications.

Biviano said Flash meant telecommunications carriers rather than phone manufacturers could own the user interface, creating customised looks for different sets of customers.

As call charges came down, carriers were looking for ways to get people to pay for data across the network, he said.

"We are seeing carriers looking again at content - things like news and sports feeds.

"WAP [wireless application protocol] was a pull-down thing. With Flash, you can push content on a subscription basis."

The latest version of Macromedia's Cold Fusion MX 7 development environment, which was released last week, includes tools to speed development for cellphones.

The Cold Fusion server will now transmit information using either SMS (short message service) or HTTP (hypertext transport protocol), meaning existing web applications can be sent to phones.

It also includes easier ways to make web-pages ready for printing, ways to create Windows forms faster and the ability to present data tables without having to create a grid manually in HTML.

Grant Straker of Straker Interactive, whose enterprise content management tools are built on the Cold Fusion platform, said Macromedia had been able to pick up on what developers wanted to do, and give them easy ways to do it.

"It comes down to speed - how quickly you can turn around applications," Straker said.

"If you are doing things like short-term web-based marketing campaigns, that becomes very important."