Microsoft may bring Silverlight to Android




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Microsoft’s Internet application browser plugin, Silverlight, may soon be coming to Android-powered handsets. Silverlight is the direct competitor of Adobe’s Flash. Seeing Silverlight or Flash on the next Android would really hurt Apple because the iPhone 3G currently has neither.

Microsoft’s Scott Guthrie told TechRadar.com “[The] Google phone is slightly different [from the iPhone]. It’s more of an open platform, that is something we’re going to continue to look at. Certainly as it’s gotten deployed and if sales are good we’ll definitely keep our eyes out and look at that in the future.”

For reasons still unknown Apple made a potentially bad decision to keep Adobe’s Flash plugin as well as Microsoft’s Silverlight off of the iPhone. Many iPhone owners cannot look beyond the fact that, despite how advanced the phone is, it still lacks Flash support. If Android-powered handsets see Silverlight or flash before the iPhone, it could possibly hurt iPhone sales in the future.

[Via TechRadar]

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    Comments For This Post

    1. Remind me... is there is or is there isn't flash support (built in or third party) available now for the G1? If not, how close are we? And really, just how big is Silverlight? Seriously, I don't know of a single site outside of the MS domain that uses it.
    2. out of the box there is no flash support
    3. last i heard silverlight is on the outs, lot of websites dropping it for flash
    4. A FLASH Plug-In? That's Fantastic News!!!! Now We Will Be Able To Take Web-Browsing To A Whole New Level!!!! I LOVE THE ANDROID!!! (Not To Mention Streaming Video's Off Other Sites Other Then YouTube.)
    5. It is a Microsoft product.
    6. not to bring anyone down or start something... but why would microsoft create something for android?
    7. Quote:
      Originally Posted by RussianSolja View Post
      A FLASH Plug-In? That's Fantastic News!!!! Now We Will Be Able To Take Web-Browsing To A Whole New Level!!!! I LOVE THE ANDROID!!! (Not To Mention Streaming Video's Off Other Sites Other Then YouTube.)
      not a flash plugin
    8. That's a darn good question that has me puzzled too ???
    9. silverlight is in no way flash compatible, is it?
    10. no its a completely diff player
    11. this will be a bust

      adobe will do something i am sure of it.

      they already got it ready for the iphone.

      android usies the same webkit that the iphone does.

      so just sit back and wait for adobe to do its thing.
    12. Sure would be nice to have true full web function...
    13. Quote:
      Originally Posted by vbreal View Post
      this will be a bust

      adobe will do something i am sure of it.

      they already got it ready for the iphone.

      android usies the same webkit that the iphone does.

      so just sit back and wait for adobe to do its thing.
      yeah in a weeks time some developer will have this ready for us.........they better
    14. Silverlight was used by NBC during the Olympics and it looked very, very good. Of course it's not as widespread as Flash, but I heard that MS has exclusive deals with several content providers on the web so it may become more popular in the future. The bottom line is it can't hurt to have it, especially since the iPhone doesn't. If this is true, hopefully it will motivate Adobe as well.
    15. does android support java? if it does, and its the same web browser on the iphone, i saw a video on how to get flash onto the iphone which may help us.
    16. Quote:
      Originally Posted by MattyMatt5481 View Post
      does android support java? if it does, and its the same web browser on the iphone, i saw a video on how to get flash onto the iphone which may help us.
      yes it does support javascript but that iphone flash trick would probably not work on the g1 seeing as they are different os's
    17. hey, a guy can dream, i wish someone would try it out and see if it worked
    18. Quote:
      Originally Posted by MattyMatt5481 View Post
      hey, a guy can dream, i wish someone would try it out and see if it worked
      or have some genious create an app that supports all video formats.....thats a dream
    19. I wish it would work because I have a friend who does the whole "lifecasting" thing, just caught up with her after a couple of years. she moved to japan from NYC and I havent talked to her in the longest time, there's a chat and a cam on her site and from what i see, it takes flash to run them both
    20. yeah it would be great for porn too haha
    21. Quote:
      Originally Posted by probigeorge11 View Post
      yeah it would be great for porn too haha
      yes it would
    22. Someone asked why Microsoft would develop anything for Android, since Android is a competing OS. The answer's pretty simple: Microsoft wants people to use Silverlight, but it hasn't caught on. If MS can get Silverlight onto the Android before Flash, it'll increase their market for Silverlight.
    23. Quote:
      Originally Posted by Message View Post
      Silverlight was used by NBC during the Olympics and it looked very, very good. Of course it's not as widespread as Flash, but I heard that MS has exclusive deals with several content providers on the web so it may become more popular in the future. The bottom line is it can't hurt to have it, especially since the iPhone doesn't. If this is true, hopefully it will motivate Adobe as well.
      I hope it does get Adobe to make a Flash player for the Android.
    24. Quote:
      Originally Posted by doomcomplex View Post
      Someone asked why Microsoft would develop anything for Android, since Android is a competing OS. The answer's pretty simple: Microsoft wants people to use Silverlight, but it hasn't caught on. If MS can get Silverlight onto the Android before Flash, it'll increase their market for Silverlight.
      Oh... that does make sense now...
    25. I have actually never seen anything using Silverlight.
      And I think myself as a computer/internet advanced user.
    26. Microsoft uses a lot of silverlight, and if you watched any of the olympics online you saw silverlight. The site was done with all silverlight, hopefully the g1 will show both flash and silverlight soon.
    27. Quote:
      Originally Posted by MrGibbage View Post
      And really, just how big is Silverlight? Seriously, I don't know of a single site outside of the MS domain that uses it.
      Silverlight 2.0 isn't out yet. Once it is, I think it's going to be pretty big. I'm doing Silverlight development for a client of mine right now, and you can do some really awesome stuff with it. We've done some testing with streaming media over an EDGE connection to mobile devices and the picture quality is great. If Android developers get anything like what us .NET devs have to work with, you'll see some great stuff, for sure...
    28. Quote:
      Originally Posted by richard View Post
      Silverlight 2.0 isn't out yet. Once it is, I think it's going to be pretty big. I'm doing Silverlight development for a client of mine right now, and you can do some really awesome stuff with it. We've done some testing with streaming media over an EDGE connection to mobile devices and the picture quality is great. If Android developers get anything like what us .NET devs have to work with, you'll see some great stuff, for sure...

      I believe it came out yesterday.
    29. Quote:
      Originally Posted by probigeorge11 View Post
      not a flash plugin
      well its something to that effect.
    30. Quote:
      Originally Posted by refused9150 View Post
      I believe it came out yesterday.

      You are correct! My client will be stoked, we've been holding off a few releases from production because of it being beta. It will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
    31. i really dont care which 1 comes to the android first.. aslong as i can watch videos on myspace and other stuff or is there a big different between them?
    32. Lol, true. Anyone will do, as long as one of them comes and it works.
    33. Im really not too impressed with what I've seen from Silverlight.

      From a user's point-of-view....

      It's no-where near ground-breaking... I'd rather have flash support than Silverlight support ANY day.

      Atleast youtube will be available at launch... But I would really enjoy me some Flash for other sites.
    (33) comments | Add your comments

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