Adobe Systems has unleashed an experimental tool that will enable content creators to convert Adobe Flash artwork and animation files into HTML5 compatible files. Code-named “Wallaby,” the experimental 32-bit application will enable developers to reuse and extend the reach of content to iOS devices that do not support the Flash runtimes, such as Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.
Content creators will be able to edit their converted files by hand or through the use of standard HTML editing tools. Output also can be viewed in a WebKit-based browser such as Chrome or Safari running on OSX and Windows PCs machines as well as mobile devices running iOS 4.2, noted John Nack, Adobe Systems’ principal product manager, mobile.
“Wallaby’s design goal was not to produce final-form HTML ready for deployment to web pages,” Nack wrote in a blog. “Instead it focuses on converting the rich animated graphical content into a form that can easily be imported into other web pages in development with web page design tools like Dreamweaver.
A Good Overall Strategy
According to Adobe, more than 20 million smartphones either shipped or were upgraded with Adobe Flash Player 10.1 software during its first six months of availability last year. What’s more, the company expects Flash Player to be supported on more than 132 million smartphones worldwide this year.
Wallaby is primarily meant to be a first step in addressing the one remaining gaping hole in Adobe’s mobile coverage: the unavailability of Flash on Apple’s iOS devices running iOS 4.2. Right now, however, the experimental tool does not yet support many Flash Professional features in the HTML5 format.
“The focus for this initial version of Wallaby is to do the best job possible of converting typical banner ads to HTML5,” Nack wrote in a blog. “Wallaby does a good job…