Hands-On: Flash Player 10.1 and Android 2.2 Froyo
May 20, 2010, 11:00 AM by Eric M. Zeman
Phone Scoop spent some time testing Adobe's new Flash Player 10.1 beta for Android handsets as well as Android 2.2 Froyo. Does Flash deserve all the fuss it has generated? We find out.
Flash Player 10.1
Phone Scoop had the opportunity to spend some time testing Adobe's Flash Player 10.1 beta for the Android platform. According to Adobe, FP 10.1 is built directly into the Android browser, and that is the only place where users will be able to consume Flash content. There is not stand-alone Flash Player software that is accessible outside of the browser.
The demo unit supplied by Adobe has a bookmarked web site that contains shortcuts to Flash-optimized web sites and services. These shortcuts cover the gamut from news, to social networking, to dedicated video sites to games. I put them all to the test on the Nexus One.
The first side I visited was PhoneScoop.com. I loaded a page that had a video embedded in it. The YouTube video player worked perfectly directly within the web page itself and played the video as yo'd expect on the desktop version of PhoneScoop.com. I then loaded the same page on the iPhone. Rather than playing the video within the web page, the iPhone instead opened the YouTube application and displayed the video that way. (See video below.)
I then visited Hulu.com. All of the content on Hulu.com worked as intended by the designers of the web site. I was able to navigate and play various videos with few problems. Video playback worked just as it does on a desktop web browser. I did the same with MTVMusic.com, which is a great place to watch music videos for free. All the video played just fine.
There are a few small issues, though. First, the Android browser on the Nexus One was rendering the sites in full HTML mode with the Flash embedded on the web pages. At first, you'd think "Hooray!" and be happy. However, the video players on the web sites are so small, that it is nearly impossible to interact with the controls. Sure, the Play button is large before the the video starts, but once it gets going, it is futile to pause, stop, or adjust the volume of any clip short of canceling the web page or navigating away. I tested this on a number of sites, and it was consistent no matter the site and video player design.
I even attempted to zoom in so the controls would be larger and easier to use, but they simply can't be made big enough to use effectively.
The other problem is speed. Hulu, for example, is so heavily laden with videos that it took forever to open the web site. (Mind you, I performed all the tests over Wi-Fi, sitting about 5 feet from my hotspot.) Even with the fast 1GHz processor in the Nexus One and blazing fast Wi-Fi mere inches away, video loaded slowly on almost every site I tested it on. Video-heavy sites, such as MTVMusic.com, practically killed the Nexus One's browser. Granted, those sites are heavy-duty and the most demanding sites out there, but even regular sites were slow-ish. (See video below.)
Once the video got playing, though, it looked and worked great for the most part. I noticed few slow-downs, pixelization, and other interference, and the sound came through with not issues whatsoever.
I am concerned about the speed, though. For it to be pushed to hard over Wi-Fi leads me to believe that the 3G experience won't be as good.
Besides video, I also tested Flash-based games. These performed incredibly well. The colors, graphics, and overall performance of the Flash-games that work with the Android browser get no complaints from me. I can't speak to how developers will feel about writing applications in Flash versus any other platform, but the games really do look great. I noticed no lags, no speed issues, no performance problems of any kind with the Flash games. Best of all, they didn't crash the browser.
Flash Player 10.1 requires devices running Android 2.2 and up. (Android 2.2 should be available soon to the Google Nexus One and Motorola Droid.) Adobe will be offering FP 10.1 to other devices, such as the HTC Incredible, EVO 4G and Desire once those devices are updated to 2.2.
In sum, I will say this. Having a Flash-capable browser does indeed lead to a richer experience across the web, and one that requires less futzing between the browser and a dedicated video player. However, speed and performance were inconsistent, I am sure some users will be frustrated at times with how well the content performs. Also, the difficulty in scaling video players on mobile web sites is a real concern, and it led to problems adjusting or halting playback quickly and easily. Adobe insists that this is a beta version of Flash Player 10.1 for Android. It's not a 1.0 piece of software. I fully expect that the software and performance will improve over time.
Android 2.2
Phone Scoop had a chance to play with Android 2.2 Froyo on a Nexus One for a few days. To be quite honest, the changes are so subtle when compared to Android 2.1, that they are very hard to spot.
The one change that is immediately apparent is a slight change to the software button on the home screen. Android 2.1 offers just the button to open the main menu. With Android 2.2, that button has been expanded and now includes one button to the phone application and one button to open the browser. As far as I can tell, there is no way to adjust these buttons, they appear to be permanent.
The gmail application has been very slightly modified. Compared to Android 2.1, it now has arrows to make jumping to the next and/or previous email faster and easier. Before, the controls to get from email to email were termed "Older" and "Newer". Having buttons with arrows on them just makes it more obvious what to do.
Android 2.2 also now has baked-in tethering and Wi-Fi hotspot controls. I was able to turn on the hotspot creator and use T-Mobile's 3G network to supple my laptop with a Wi-Fi connection to the Internet. I didn't have to perform and account hijinks to get it to work, it just worked. My guess is wireless network operators are going to have something to say about this feature, so don't expect it to magically appear on all Android 2.2 devices.
According to Google, other changes to Android 2.2 Froyo include vastly improved system performance. I can say with authority that the Nexus One absolutely flies with the new system software on board. It is fast, Fast, FAST. So is the browser. Whether over 3G or Wi-Fi, the browser is blazing fast. Google says it has sped up JavaScript rendering, and it's true.
A deep inspection of all the settings, controls and applications on the device yielded very little information about other new features.
Here is some video of Android 2.2 in action.
About the author, Eric M. Zeman:Eric has been covering the mobile telecommunications industry for 17 years at various print and online publications. He studied at Rutgers Newark and University of Kentucky, and has a degree in writing. He likes playing guitar, attending concerts, listening to music, and driving sports cars.
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Comments
Hulu?
Could you please explain?
NAI i bet is on
How do I get it?
