Microsoft is working with Apple on getting Silverlight (their Flash-like technology) content onto the iPhone? Made our eyes widen as well, but it wasn't what we expected. Unlike the debate over Flash, and a Flash player/plugin for iPhone, this doesn't involve a Silverlight player/plugin at all. According to Microsoft User Experience Platform Manager Brian Goldfarb:
"So we've worked with Apple to create a server-side based solution with IIS Media Services," Goldfarb continued, "and what we're doing is taking content that's encoded for smooth streaming and enabling the content owner to say, 'I want to enable the iPhone.' The server will dynamically make the content work -- same content, same point of origin -- on the iPhone. We do this with the HTML 5
"We're translating the content to support the MPEG2 v8 [decoder] format that the iPhone format; we're moving it to their adaptive streaming format. So it's the same IIS smooth streaming content, the same server, the same point of origin, but now I can get that content to play without any code changes, without any real work, on the iPhone. That's the critical thing for our customers."
Goldfarb clarifies that "worked with Apple" means his team did everything, but made sure Apple was "comfortable" with the solution.
TiPb clarifies that if this ends up working well, it gets more video to more iPhone users without the security, privacy, performance, and dodgy plugin architecture that plagues desktop implementations of code-interpreters.
So add to the list of YouTube, Ustream, Stickam, and Vimeo, we could now see all Silverlight video (including Netflix?) made compatible with the iPhone and H.264.
Rather than Flash 10.1, maybe Adobe should be looking to build this cleaner, safer-sounding solution into their next plugin as well?
