Adobe Plans to Extend Flash to TVs and Set-top Boxes

Adobe has already been aggressive in making Flash the standard for viewing videos: it claims that Flash is installed on 98 percent of computers and 40 percent of all phones, and that 80 percent of Web videos, including those from YouTube and Hulu, require it. Now, the company is pushing to export Flash to TV sets and set-top boxes as well, making it easier to view Web videos on a big screen. Shantanu Narayen, Adobe’s CEO, said in a statement that he expects such TVs to begin shipping later this year. So far, Adobe’ s partners in this endeavor include Intel, Comcast, Netflix, and Broadcom, which makes components for set-top boxes. For starters, this means consumers will be able to view Web content on a big screen more easily, which could make the idea of canceling their cable and hooking their laptop up to their television more tempting. If Flash support becomes de rigeur on televisions, Hollywood might also be enticed to make more movies available in Flash. Which would be good news for consumers and set-top box makers alike. In any case, it’s this piece that has us excited: although we’re not sure how many people want to watch YouTube clips on their TV, we love the idea that direct-to-TV flash movies could become more accessible.