All Things Digital

Flash content on the Web may be slow-loading and occasionally nonintuitive, but at least now it’s searchable.

Adobe (ADBE) has conceived of a way for search engines to index Flash content, even pre-existing Flash content, without the need for developer intervention. It’s made content encoded in the Flash file format (SWF), which was previously undiscoverable to search engines, discoverable–and it’s given Google (GOOG) and Yahoo (YHOO) the tools necessary to discover it.

As Ryan Stewart, an Adobe evangelist, explained: “We are giving a special, search-engine optimized Flash Player to Yahoo and Google, which is going to help them crawl through every bit of your SWF file. This Flash Player will act just like a person would in some cases. It will click on your buttons, it will move through the states of your application, get data from the server when your application normally would, and it will capture all of the text and data that you’ve got inside of your Flash-based application. We’ve basically provided a very powerful looking glass into SWF files so Google and Yahoo can pull out meaningful information.”

Google will begin doing that today; Yahoo, whenever it manages. A big change for both companies, especially Google, which has long advised Webmasters concerned about their PageRank to use Flash sparingly. “In general, search engines are text based,” the company explains in its “Creating a Google-friendly site” FAQ. “This means that in order to be crawled and indexed, your content needs to be in text format. This doesn’t mean that you can’t include images, Flash files, videos and other rich media content on your site; it just means that any content you embed in these files should also be available in text format or it won’t be accessible to search engines.”

Today that changes. And now, developers can use Flash to their hearts’ content, without mucking about with workarounds to ensure the dynamic content it makes possible is properly indexed and ranked.

The long-anticipated 3G version of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone is still well over a week away from market, but already its promise of speedier data services, rich mobile-application platform and drastically lower retail price is driving early adopters mad with desire.

Indeed, a new survey of 3,600 RBC Technology Adoption Panel members showed that 56% of those planning to purchase a smart phone in the next 3 months will buy an iPhone 3G. That’s more than double the 23% that plans to buy a BlackBerry. And it’s nearly 19 times the number that plans to buy a device from the much-diminished Palm. This sort of pent-up demand is unprecedented, notes RBC analyst Mike Abramsky, who expects Apple to ship 14 million iPhones in 2008 and 24 million in 2009.

[Image credit: Nick Anderson]

Telekinesis was a great little iPhone remote–while it lasted. But come July 11, its days may be numbered. Hidden away in the latest developer build of iTunes 7.7 is a new Apple-designed remote control application for iPhone and iPod Touch users that navigates tracks on Macs and Windows PCs from any of Apple’s current handhelds.

“Use iTunes 7.7 to sync music, video and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod Touch with software version 2.0 or later,” the iTunes installer Read Me document explains. “Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod Touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home–a free download from the App Store.”

Sounds like a slick little application. Even slicker if Apple (AAPL) finally decides to add “multi-zone” support to AirTunes so we can stream different music to different speakers throughout our homes.

[Image Credit: InventorSpot]

Google’s facing another billion dollar lawsuit–and, whaddaya know, it’s not from Viacom. It’s from LimitNone, a small software developer that claims Google’s (GOOG) Email Uploader tool copies the look, feel, functionality and distribution model of its gMove application.

The gMove app exports email, contacts and calendar information stored in Microsoft (MSFT) Outlook to Google’s online services. LimitNone apparently developed it with Google’s help and the understanding that the company had no intention of offering a competing product. But at some point, Google changed its mind. And it built Google Email Uploader–allegedly using LimitNone’s trade secrets. “Google claims its core philosophy is ‘Don’t be evil’ but, simply put, they invited us to work with them, to trust them–and then stole our technology,” said LimitNone’s CEO, Ray Glassmann.

A harsh accusation. And likely a tough one to prove. LimitNone never bothered to patent gMove. And beyond that, it’s hard to believe Google is so lacking in engineering resources and expertise that it would purloin an email migration tool.

The stress of Microsoft’s failed bid for Yahoo has apparently been so great, the company’s been put off its food. Microsoft (MSFT) says it has no intention of seeking the search-advertising market heft it might have gained in an acquisition of Yahoo (YHOO) with a spate of other Internet purchases.

“People don’t understand what they’re talking about,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told the Financial Times, referring to speculation about a post-Yahoo buying spree. “At the end of the day, this is about the ad platform.”

And don’t forget Google (GOOG) …

Apple’s much lauded iPhone captured 28% of the smart-phone market in the States by the fourth quarter of 2007–just six months into its launch. Today it holds something less than that–about 19.2%. But to look at the headlines, you’d think it controlled the market in its entirety. A quick search on Google returns 19,035 results for “iPhone”– from Jun. 2, 2008 to today. Why? Because in a few hours, Apple CEO Steve Jobs will address the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, at which he is expected to unveil the next version of the company’s iPhone.

And for Apple’s (AAPL) sake, I hope he does. Because with expectations running this high, I’d hate to see what happens if he doesn’t. Although the new Apple Store housed in a life-size replica of the Golden Gate Bridge pictured in the invite would certainly take some of the heat off …

Anyway, I’ll be live-blogging from inside Moscone West in San Francisco starting at 10 a.m. PDT. Here’s something to read while you wait …

• From Moscone West: This is crazy. They just opened a single door to let cameras in and the media rushed the gate. Its like that 1979 Who concert in Cincinnati.



• The hall in Moscone West is filling quickly to the sounds of Jerry Lee Lewis. From the looks of it media and developers are here in equal numbers.
• Jobs takes the stage. I’m sitting about 20 rows back, but even I can see he’s looking pretty thin from here. He gets right into it, pulls up a slide of a stool and describes Apple as a three-legged company. Macs, music and the iPhone.
• Jobs will spend the morning talking about the iPhone. This afternoon Apple will discuss OS X “Snow Leopard.”

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