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Browsing for a tablet PC to run Flash

Jason's quest to get his small business kitted out is not over yet. This time, he's on the lookout for a Flash-friendly tablet.

By Jason Slater, 26 May 2010 at 15:05

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It's like magic. One day it's there and the next day it's gone.

I am, of course. describing the amazing disappearing Internet Explorer icon which vanishes following a Windows update. I can only imagine how much confusion that trick has caused the casual computer user who probably relies on the built-in web browser and doesn't care a jot who it's developed by or why.

But it has gone, with relatively little fan fare. It's been replaced with an icon asking you to select a browser. Of course, I expect many users will reselect the little blue explorer icon and manually pin it back to the taskbar and start menu and put it down to 'one of those politics things' but I wonder how much money, time and effort has been wasted in the process?

We are still debating whether to get an Apple iPad, but the tie in for the development costs is putting us off a little, especially as we really want to concentrate on ActionScript development for the present time and have invested a lot of time and effort into it so far.

We spent some time with the Toshiba JournE tablet, which is Windows CE based. Sadly that doesn't support Flash either at present. We're living in hope that the rumoured Android-based tablet will support Flash though.

Surprisingly enough - as I type this very article an email pops up saying "Adobe Flash. Available Now on Mobile Android Devices." - go figure!

There is much hype around Apple's iPad tablet, which launches later this week in the UK. Apple-friendly celebrity Stephen Fry is even launching his own applications for the device.

Talking about Apple-based applications it's a surprise that no one has yet challenged the built-in browser, Safari, on the mobile device range. One can only wonder if users are going to wake up one morning to discover it's been removed and replaced with a 'Choose Your Browser' application too. You could bet for sure that if it was a Microsoft iPad being released there would be a massive furore but the media do seem surprisingly quiet about it. Thus far, at least.

Jason Slater is a columnist for IT PRO and has just set up his own company.

Comments? Questions? You can have your say below or follow Jason on Twitter here.

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3 comments

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Flash

To be honest, I'm pretty disappointed with Adobe over this. We were early adopters of Flex for RIA ourselves, and the promise was good (basically, applets done right, and with a much larger reach than Java). The reality, on the other hand, has been disappointing. The mobile versions of Flash are over a year late, and progress in fixing Flex issues has also been slow. In retrospect, it seems to me that they've taken what was a great simple animation tool, and tried to turn it into Java, while underestimating the work required to do so. Equally, our main reason for using Flash - it's reach - just isn't relevant in the mobile / tablet space. Even if we don't want to develop native iPhone/iPad apps, it's a strategically bad move for us to say we're only going to support Flash-enabled devices - especially when they are in the minority. Of course that may change 2-3 years down the line, but we have customers wanting smartphone access right now.

By JulesLt on Friday Jun 4

why non consumer brands are best for small business tablet needs

I love apple got the macbook pro an imac, an iphone and took the ipad within a week of UK release but my god was it a regret for many reasons but im sure any visitor on this page probably knows very well the limitation to the over rated ipad. As a IT consultants SME's sometimes the non consumer devices are the best options by far. Im currently using a QuadPad 3G tablet http://www.quaduro.com released around xmas last year. works like a dream runs windows and for well under 800. you cant go wrong.

By techman2 on Friday Jun 11

why non consumer brands are best for small business tablet needs

<p>I love apple got the macbook pro an imac, an iphone and took the ipad within a week of UK release but my god was it a regret for many reasons but im sure any visitor on this page probably knows very well the limitation to the over rated ipad. As a IT consultants SME's sometimes the non consumer devices are the best options by far. Im currently using a QuadPad 3G tablet http://www.quaduro.com released around xmas last year. works like a dream runs windows and for well under 800. you cant go wrong. </p>

By techman2 on Friday Jun 11