As of yesterday afternoon (February 24, 2010), the Adobe® Connect Pro® Mobile for iPhone® app is available for download from the Apple® iTunes® App StoreSM. The free application enables iPhone users to join and participate in live meetings running in Adobe Connect Pro, Adobe’s Web conferencing software. Connect Pro Mobile is currently number 16 in the list of Top Free Business Apps on iTunes.
Using Adobe Connect Pro Mobile, participants can watch and listen to live presentations offered through Connect Pro, including real-time meeting Webcam video and screen sharing demonstrations. (See Figure 1.) Mobile users collaborate with others using live text chat or VoIP over WiFi or 3G connection. Host and Presenter capabilities are not included in Connect Pro Mobile 1.0.
Figure 1: Adobe Connect Pro
Mobile
enables iPhone users to participate
in live meetings running in
Adobe Connect Pro.
(Screen shot provided by Adobe.)
Adobe built the new app using an upcoming version of Adobe Flash® Professional CS5, which includes a feature called Packager for iPhone. Packager enables Flash developers to build applications using the Flash scripting language, ActionScript 3, and then using Packager to compile a native iPhone app. Flash Pro CS5 is currently in private beta; Adobe has not announced a release date for the product.
Early user reaction to Connect Pro Mobile for iPhone has been mixed. Feedback on the app store is largely positive. At press time, feedback on Adobe’s Website has been light, although video seems intermittent and choppy for some users, and some problems with Chat and with PowerPoint animations have also been noted. One user observed that simple slideshows and audio work fine and also noted that iPhone users cannot view the slideshow and the Chat at the same time. This should not be a problem for small groups or for one-on-one conferences. A presenter with more participants following on iPhones will need to take this into account. It's more a limitation of the iPhone than of the Connect Pro Mobile app. We noted that it is easy to switch between Chat and the Screen. (Editor’s Note: During our trial, we noted that the VoIP audio could be heard on the iPhone while sharing a document. We believe this would be true while sharing an application as well.)
Our own preliminary trials did reveal some difficulty in getting multiple iPhone users synched with the system, although it is unclear whether the difficulties were associated with the app or with carrier lag.
A video of the app, along with links to the Getting Started Guide and the Known Issues document are available on the Connect Users site. http://www.connectusers.com/tutorials/2010/02/connectpromobile/index.php Product managers at Adobe recommend that anyone who presents meetings using Connect Pro read through these documents. In particular, presenters must be sure to manage Chat according to the recommendations.
Adobe’s announcement comes in the wake of Apple’s January media event that debuted the iPad, Apple’s latest mobile device. At that time, Apple CEO Steve Jobs acknowledged that the iPhone OS, which runs Apple’s iPhone, iPod Touch, and the upcoming iPad, does not run Flash content. Apple opted to rely on the upcoming HTML5 standards for viewing video through a Web browser, said Jobs, rather than the nearly ubiquitous Flash player from Adobe. Jobs’ comments sparked a rush of commentary throughout the tech community and the blogosphere regarding the relationship between Apple and Adobe, and the future of Flash.
The Connect Pro Mobile app is the second big-name Web conferencing product available through iTunes.
