Flash Vids Coming To IPad, Via Skyfire Browser
Skyfire CEO Jeff Glueck has made it public that his company will be prepping a version of its now-famous Skyfire browser for the iPad.
The big deal with this $3 iPhone/iPod Touch app is that it converts Flash video to HTML5 on the fly. The application debuted to such ridiculous demand that the company actually had to (temporarily) pull itself from the App Store to ramp up for the enormity of usage it would inspire.
After a short hiatus, it was released in batches to the masses, and has now made it available without limitation for U.S. users, as well as Canadian users. On tap next is UK and Ireland, with roll-outs in other countries to follow.
Glueck, no doubt thrilled with the buzz and success of his company’s app, has also announced that Apple tablet users will be getting some dedicated Skyfire goodness as well. The current version does work on the tablet as it is, but the upcoming incarnation will be a dedicated iPad application.
“A number of you have asked about an iPad version of Skyfire, and we are working on an iPad-optimized version. No dates to promise yet, but we hope to have news before the end of this year… If your primary device is the iPad, we suggest you hold off and wait for Skyfire’s iPad app,” he wrote. “It will have a host of extra features…”
Skyfire is also eyeing Android users with an upcoming app for the Android Market. This may not be quite as thrilling for the Google mobile platform, thanks to Flash 10.1, but if you’re a user who pairs an iDevice with an Android phone, and wish to have a consistent UI and experience, it’s definitely something to note. Glueck hints that social networking will be among the enhancements.
As noted pretty much everywhere, Skyfire supports Flash videos alone, so if you’re looking for the capability to play Flash games on your iDevice, this still isn’t the solution. But it’s better than what we had before, which is a complete barrier for all online Flash components.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a Walking Dead trailer to watch on my iPhone. (Giggity.)