Flash Lite 2 trial for free, what could it mean ?

After reading Bill's article on the last The Edge issue and some other posts, I was wondering the following question :

Why doesn't Adobe  release a TRIAL version for Flash Lite 2 (or 1.1) ?

I'm seriously sure that having a trial version of the player could be a great breakthrough for overcoming the barriers to adoption.

For developers this could mean to be more persuasive in the phase of  showing/proposing/selling contens.
I imagine this kind of scenario, where I could present my application(s) to a company (or even to a mobile operators or whatever) and give them the possibility to try the contents on their own for a specific period of time without forcing them to buy the Flash Lite player. 
This would let companies the time to try/see/use and understand the real advantages and plus of a technology like Flash Lite.

The same is for mobile operators that could give their users the player (and contents) for a limited period of time and let them evaluate if buy  or discard it.

The trial business model demonstrated to be a winning model.

I create a Poll on Flash Lite User Group, and I'd love to hear voices from all of you :
Do you think having a Flash Lite free trial version could increase the adoption of the player worldwide ?

Comments

[carlo]

Hi Marco,
I personally think it is not enough.

The best model to follow is the one RefreshMobile with the Mobizines are operating.
Where you can deliver content and player as single download and single install.
For developers it would be just a matter to develop their content in two versions, with the player, and without player (for users already FL enabled).
I believe that only doing so there will be a significant penetration in the mob market.

Also the delivery of the content has to reach its audience in a single step process.
Meaning to be delivered straight to users handsets. No downloads to PCs and tricky file transfers via cables or bluetooth.

The technology is there available, all we need is to get rid of all the unnecessary hurdles elsewhere 90% of our potential market would drop at the first one.

Cheers
Carlo

[Scott Janousek]

I think this is a good idea for trusted entities ...

However, if it becomes possible to send the player around without any kind of restrictions (say digitally signing the app) you could introduce a situation where a malicious user could distribute a "bunk" FLP.

Having a free trial version distributed by Adobe or other trusted parties is something to consider ...

I would imagine that the players at Adobe are restriction free and can be installed anywhere ... for sake of convenience ...

[Rich Hauck]

I just purchased a Series 60 Nokia with hopes to begin playing around with Flash Lite 2. I'm new to mobile, but am shocked to discover that Adobe/Macromedia charges for the player.

Unfortunately, until phone manufacturers preinstall Flash Player on U.S. and European phones the only audience available for Flash Lite content will be fellow developers. I'm hoping to hear big news from Adobe at Barcelona--otherwise, I wouldn't be surprised to find another platform emerge and beat Flash to the punch.

[Marco Casario]

Hi Scott,
I totally agree with you to have trusted entities to distribute the flashlite player (Adobe, Nokia, Samsung, NTT DoCoMo .. etc.)

[Dale Rankine]

Sure, having the player free for download or as a timed trial version would get it out there a little faster in the short term, but not in the scale or to the actual consumers that we need in order for developers to be able to raise income from getting their content to market). The best option I think for what Marco is talking about (in terms of using it in the sales process, client demos, etc) would be to be able to bundle the player into the SWF as we do on the desktop version. I can't see on the Mobizones site any mention of a Flash Lite version of their (Java) product, so not sure how they're supposedly doing the bundled player thing for their content?

[Marco Casario]

Hi Dale,
sure, imagine what it could mean for companies that decide to use one of their developer to create an utility with Flash Lite and then install it on employees' mobile phones for a limited period, just to try it on.
After that period they decide to buy the Flash Lite licenses !

I'm pretty sure that Adobe is running the best business model for reaching the deepest penetration for Flash Lite, but I also think that Adobe could cover other ways (giving a trial version i.e.).

[VL]

I totally agree what was said by the both of you. But I also feel that Adobe can actually help promote what's already in Asian Market (japan and korea) and become the middle man to filter localizable contents to other operators and respective markets.

Operators in their back mind see the value but might not see the dollar signs, but at the same time if plenty of contents before they feel investing into a service is justifiable. It'll be nice if a flash mobile content catalog could be consolidated just for operators to log-in, download, try and consider. I guess the concept is similar to what Nokia provides with their Nokia Prem. Members, but at least from this point Adobe can really help push the content side of things.

It could be a catalyst that can help developers worldwide get their contents marketed in a more structured fashion.

-VL

[Alessandro]

Ciao,

agree too. I would add that a OTA download would be good to have with OMA and so on!!

Hey Marco, if the clients are interested in the technology they will not mind to pay $10!
Agree with you, demonstrating that this technology is valuable solution is still hard due to the lack on Flash Lite enabled phones.
In any case the distribution should be as mobile content via SMS.

Currently Sony Ericsson seams to be the best manufactures to adopt Flash Lite. So it's already possible to distribute wallpapers and so on !! And remember wallpapers do not need any actionscript !!

Alessandro

[David Mannl]

G'day Dale,

Mobizines uses Flash-Lite1.1 on most Series60 phones from Nokia. All other phones are using MIDP2 to render the UI.
The player is bundeled into the initial download of the Mobizines application.

Best regards

David Mannl

[Luciano Ayres]

Hi Marco,

That would be a good strategy, but I think Adobe is not aiming currently on consumers, but on Mobile Operators and Manufacturers. The big players rule the market, so anything that they can trust and increases their ARPU is rapidly adopted, so does the users.

Luciano Ayres

[Rob Densby]

Hi

Just found the S60 and Java version on getJar.com. Its great I recommend everyone tries it. And now you've got 17 magazines in it.

http://www.getjar.com/products/3838/Mobizines

Rob

[elvis]

hi,which flash player works on nec e313,228,616 tell me where & how to get it on these phones.my email is love4rent80s@yahoo.com

[Richard Truman]

i like to use quick flash player, it is a stand-alone flash player that enables Flash Users to quickly browse the Macromedia Flash SWF files.

http://www.yaodownload.com/video_t/videoplayer/quickflashplayer/

[wow gold]

http://www.huanyuquan.com