We’ve just received news that Skyfire, a mobile app developer for Apple and Android devices has recently submitted their first application to Apple and appears set to be approved. While that might not sound so exciting at face value this particular application is set to finally bring FLASH to iPhone, iPads, and iTouch devices.
The application has a simple idea at heart, to enable flash to be viewed on the iPhone. For a while now Steve Jobs and Apple have not allowed Flash to be ported on to the iPhone claiming it was technologically not possible, when really it is because of the ongoing feud between Apple and Adobe (the makers of Flash).
The Skyfire application is a mobile browser in one small package, just like safari. It was built with the same developing program as Safari was so it should be accepted by Apple guidelines. The way the program actually allows you to watch flash videos, is by converting the embedded flash on the webpage and turning into HTML5. For those of you who have not heard of HTML5, it is the newest most sophisticated Web Language.
HTML5 allows video playback within browserâs without any additional plug-ins. The Skyfire application does this in Skyfireâs own âCloudâ a digital storage space. Doing things in the cloud means that less battery life is wasted along with data usage and it increases speed. The application also includes, âAdaptive Streamingâ so if youâre not an area of excellent signal then you can still view videos when on two-bar connection. The program automatically checks your signal every 5 seconds and can change streaming settings live.
The Skyfire application has a built in âSky Barâ much like the bar at the bottom of safari except with extra features, from this bar is where you access the ability to start streaming the flash video on the page into HTML5.
The Skybar also contains an Explore icon on the Skybar- this button when pressed gives related content to the currently loaded page, along with video images and similar WebPages. This feature is very similar to the website Stumpleupon if you have heard of that.
Skyfire compresses video data up to 75% so it shouldnât cost a fortune to stream videos. Also the application adheres to Apples strict App guidelines as well as HTML5 video playback guidelines. All of this means that hopefully Apple shouldnât have a legitimate reason to not let this into the Appstore, I hope we see it soon.