BBC Media Player to give Android users their iPlayer fix in a mostly Flashless world

BBC Media Player to give Android users their iPlayer fix in a Flashless world

Remember how the BBC was asking Adobe to keep Flash for Android on life support for a short while? The broadcaster just removed any doubts as to why with the launch of BBC Media Player, its solution for that day when the mobile plugin is well and truly buried. Starting with iPlayer on the mobile web and moving on to both radio as well as an updated version of the Android app due next week, the BBC will be using close Flash cousin Adobe AIR for streaming playback on Android phones and tablets. It can’t quit Flash technology cold turkey given the sheer number of devices still running Gingerbread or earlier, which rules out HTTP Live Streaming for now. Media Player isn’t necessarily the most elegant solution — we’re seeing reports of sub-par video and other hiccups — but it will keep those episodes of Doctor Who rolling on most Android hardware and let the BBC push out updates that address as many of the Google-inclined as possible.

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BBC Media Player to give Android users their iPlayer fix in a mostly Flashless world originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Sep 2012 15:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Google Chrome for Windows gets more secure Flash player, gives users a browsing sandbox safety net

Google Chrome for Windows gets more secure Flash player, gives users a browsing sandbox safety netChrome turned 21 last week, and in that new version, Google’s made playing Flash videos in its browser even safer… for Windows users, anyway. This latest release puts Adobe’s Flash Player plug-in for Windows in a sandbox, much as Chrome 20 did for Linux. This sandbox is “as strong” as Chrome’s extremely robust native version — even in Windows XP — which means that Flash-borne malware can’t hurt Microsofties. Securing the Flash Player plug-in is the result of two years of work, and was made possible by a new plug-in architecture Google co-developed with Adobe. In addition to the security benefits, the architecture has also brought performance improvements by way of a 20 percent decrease in Flash crashes and GPU acceleration for smoother scrolling and faster Flash rendering. And, while the immediate good news is for Windows users, Google has assured us that a port for OS X is in the works, and it hopes to ship that Mac version soon.

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Google Chrome for Windows gets more secure Flash player, gives users a browsing sandbox safety net originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Verge  |  sourceChromium Blog, Google Chrome Blog  | Email this | Comments