Two years ago, Microsoft declared that the future of video on the web would be powered by HTML 5. Today, however, a lot of web video content is still delivered via Adobe Flash technology. So, in a somewhat surprising move, Microsoft is integrating Flash directly into Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 8 and doing so in a way that does not undermine the safety and reliability of the Metro environment.

Flash will be built in, so this doesn't (strictly) break the "no plugins" rule for IE10. And it will update directly in the browser. Still isn't as good for security as not having Flash, though. It's also retrograde - the web is going mobile and Flash is not part of it.

The HP-popularised memristor device is a form of ReRAM – resistive RAM – and is fairly expensive to make. Metal oxide-based ReRAM technology promises to combine minimum memory speed with NAND non-volatility and be able to provide higher capacities than NAND, which is thought will cease to be usable as process geometries go down past 10nm. ReRAM dies will need less electricity to run and will take up less space than equivalent capacity NAND.

A team at UCL has come across a good memristor material while trying to develop LEDs.

Enormous fun. (Requires Flash.)

The [DoCoMo] deal [in Japan] was a breakthrough for Macromedia. Instead of giving away the flash client, the way it had on the PC, Macromedia could charge for the client, have it forced into the hands of every user, and continue to also make money selling development tools. The company had found a way to have its cake and eat it too! In late 2004, the iMode deal was extended worldwide (link), and I'm sure Macromedia had visions of global domination.

Unfortunately for Flash, Japan is a unique phone market, and DoCoMo is a unique operator. The DoCoMo deal could not be duplicated on most phone platforms other than iMode. Macromedia, and later Adobe, was now trapped by its own success. To make Flash Lite a standard in mobile, it would have needed to give away the player, undercutting its lucrative DoCoMo deal. When you have a whole business unit focused on making money from licensing the player, giving it away would mean missing revenue projections and laying off a lot of people. Macromedia chose the revenue, and Flash Lite never became a mobile standard.

More trouble followed. A very interesting potted history with smart lessons.

Inroads being made:

Social sound sharing startup Soundcloud is switching to HTML5 for its default widget, essentially demoting its Flash widget to become a fallback solution. Soundcloud only introduced its HTML5 widget some three months ago, but a spokesperson told me today that it’s been a hit with users: “People are eight times as likely to share the sounds after playing them (with the) HTML5 widget as compared to the Flash version,” the spokesperson wrote via email.

Note: the widget referenced in the post works on Firefox, doesn't work on Chrome for us.

"As we’ve mentioned before, we’re focusing on enabling amazing Flash based experiences via apps on phones and tablets, and this release will be the last major version of the mobile browser plug-in.

Just let that sink in for a moment.

"The most stunning, innovative content and games for mobile devices are delivered and consumed through apps. The most impactful, engaging experiences on the desktop are delivered through the browser. With Flash Player for desktop and AIR apps for mobile, Flash allows you to craft and deliver beautiful experiences for both."

However, since smartphones will be on par with PCs in terms of installed base within a couple of years, don't bet on the Flash experiences for that much longer.

The contrast between the installation penetration of Flash and Silverlight is interesting.

"Flash is mature. It's supported by all major desktop browsers. It's stable when used properly. If not, it crashes a lot, just like every other technology. It requires constant security updates, just like every other web technology. It doesn't work well on most mobile devices, and for good reasons. It's a content plugin, developed during the era of closed standards and unilateral corporate control of web technology."

So where are you pitching your tent? (Thanks to @EMComments for the link.)

"A small group of website and mobile app developers have kicked off an 'Occupy Flash' campaign to put a stake in the heart of Adobe's popular browser plug-in."

Hang on, isn't it the 99% who are meant to complain about the 1%? This is the wrong way round.

"Flash is alive and well. It will be receiving continued improvements for desktop web apps and mobile apps (don’t forget, Adobe Touch apps are built on the Flash Platform. You better believe the Flash Platform will continue to improve)."

Later he adds that "The preferred method for deploying content to mobile devices is creating apps (which both Flash Professional and Flash Builder can create) or using HTML5."

So: Flash for mobile apps and for desktop. In which case why not use HTML5 for the mobile apps too? And if mobile is a bigger platform than the desktop (which it soon will be..) then...?

Mike Chambers is in charge of developer relations for Flash at Adobe: "given the fragmentation of the mobile market, and the fact that one of the leading mobile platforms (Apple’s iOS) was not going to allow the Flash Player in the browser, the Flash Player was not on track to reach anywhere near the ubiquity of the Flash Player on desktops.

"This effectively meant that if you wanted to use Flash to deliver a rich web experience in the browser on mobile devices you would have to provide both a Flash based, as well as HTML5 based solution. Given the strong support for HTML5 across modern mobile devices, it simply made more sense to create an HTML5 based solution. Now, there are some exceptions to this, especially around advanced video content, but it is very clear that HTML5 is the solution to turn to if you want to provide a richer browser based experience that works across browsers on mobile devices."

Impressive how Adobe has grasped this - and wants to win it.

Dan Frommer makes a number of really good (factual) points about where Adobe really is - and especially what its user base thinks about its HTML5 authoring tools. That's key.

Simon Bisson and Mary Branscombe: "This isn't the death of Flash, just a new way of delivering it… Even Adobe's own next generation tablet applications (like Photoshop Touch) have been written in AIR, with new features meaning there's no need to have a separate runtime from application code. While AIR may not be as obvious as Flash, it's the same ActionScript code running – it just looks like a native app rather a browser plug-in.

"Developers working with AIR get access to the familiar ActionScript development and design environments, plus a whole raft of additional APIs that come from no longer being limited by the browser's sandbox and limitations. Take touch for example: Android is capable of multi-touch, but Google's given the browser only one touch point. Running outside in AIR the same code gets access to all the hardware capabilities, with full ten point touch on a Honeycomb tablet like the Galaxy Tab 10.1."

So how many touch points does Apple have in the browser?

"RIM, for its part, says it has licensed Adobe’s source code and plans to continue supporting Flash on the PlayBook.

“'As an Adobe source code licensee, we will continue to work on and release our own implementations. RIM remains committed to delivering an uncompromised Web browsing experience to our customers, including native support for Adobe Flash Player on our BlackBerry PlayBook tablet (similar to a desktop PC browser), as well as HTML5 support on both our BlackBerry smartphone and PlayBook browsers,' RIM said in a statement to AllThingsD."

You can rely on RIM.

"Apple is said to adopt "Toggle DDR 2.0," a 19-nanometer process for NAND flash memory offering 400 megabyte-per-second speed, in its next MacBook Air, according to a new report.<br />
"The high-speed NAND flash memory is said to appear in Apple's new MacBook Air, rumored to see an imminent release, according to Macotokara. Citing a person with an "Asian electronics component company," the report said that the new technology will replace the Blade X-gale found in the current MacBook Air models."<br />
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Likely effect: make you feel even slower as your computer waits for you to do something. And today is Tuesday.

"You could not come up with a better illustration of the clash of cultures that was the eG8 than the post-forum report.<br />
"Was the output of the two-day gathering in Paris published on a website so people could link to it? Or perhaps a blog so that people could comment on it? Or even a wiki, so the people who attended could contribute and correct mistakes?<br />
"No it wasn’t. The report is a book.<br />
"Or rather it is an eBook. Except it isn’t even an eBook, in the sense of something that you can read on your Kindle or other eBook reader.<br />
"It’s actually a Flash-based page turner, the sort of thing that was all the rage five years ago. It is a digital facsimile of a book."

"The fact is that [at the NAB video conference] Adobe previewed video technology, not general Flash (or SWF) capabilities [streaming to iOS]. I’m not sure if they disclosed what kind of source video was being streamed to the iOS, but there’s nothing new being revealed from a capabilities point of view."<br />
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In other words, it's not Flash video, but equally Adobe isn't giving up on Flash. Adobe and Apple are still at loggerheads over this, but some Adobe clients want to get video onto the iPad and iPhone, and Adobe isn't about to leave money on the table.

The results of a scan for the latest Adobe zero-day vulnerability shows that only one out of 42 virus scanners presently detect it. And it's probably not one you've heard of.

"Attackers are exploiting a previously unknown security flaw in Adobe’s ubiquitous Flash Player software to launch targeted attacks, according to several reliable sources. The attacks  come less than three weeks after Adobe issued a critical update to fix a different Flash flaw that crooks were similarly exploiting to install malicious software.<br />
"According to sources, the attacks exploit a vulnerability in fully-patched versions of Flash, and are being leveraged in targeted spear-phishing campaigns launched against select organizations and individuals that work with or for the U.S. government. Sources say the attacks so far have embedded the Flash exploit inside of Microsoft Word files made to look like important government documents."