New Flash focuses on video, games

Adobe Systems Inc. says the latest iteration of its ubiquitous Flash player will focus on showing high-quality online videos and letting developers create high-quality games for a broad range of devices.

The latest installment of Flash, which is used to watch online videos, create visual graphics and power the bulk of Web-based games, comes as Apple Inc. continues to ban the technology from its iPhone and wildly popular iPad tablet computer. (There is a way, however, for developers to bring apps originally built in Flash to Apple gadgets by using Adobe’s AIR technology.)

Adobe, which plans to launch Flash 11 in October, says it also supports HTML5, the latest version of the programming standard that websites are built on.

Anti-bullying app launched

Facebook and Time Warner Inc. launched an app last week designed to help prevent bullying among children and young adults.

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The app on Facebook’s site is part of a broader partnership the two companies formed earlier this summer. The partnership calls for Facebook, which has more than 750 million users, and Time Warner to use their clout to raise awareness about bullying and encourage kids and adults to stop it.

The app is called “Stop Bullying: Speak Up” and is aimed at those who might witness bullying, on and off Facebook. It offers resources on prevention and asks children and adults to take an online pledge to speak up if they see bullying. As of Wednesday, three-quarters of the 12,157 people who took the pledge were adults.

Time Warner’s Cartoon Network has been running a “Stop Bullying: Speak Up” campaign since last year.

New iPhone next month, Gore says

Apple hasn’t said when it will release the next version of the iPhone, but former Vice President and current Apple Inc. board member Al Gore believes “new iPhones” will be here in October.

Gore spoke Wednesday at the Discovery Invest Leadership Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa. Toby Shapshak, a summit attendee and the editor of Stuff Magazine’s South African edition, said that when speaking about computing’s exponential growth, Gore said, “Not to mention the new iPhones coming out next month. That was a plug.”

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Gore’s comments, which Shapshak said he recorded on his iPhone, were reported earlier by TheNextWeb. If Gore is right, that could indicate Apple will introduce more than one model.

An Apple spokesman declined to comment.

Digital Folio lets retailers compete

Denver-based Digital Folio Inc. last week formally launched a service that lets retailers undercut each other to woo online shoppers.

Digital Folio has been offering a beta version of the service, which runs through an add-on to the Internet Explorer or Firefox Web browsers. When shoppers download it, a column appears in their browser where they can keep track of products they want to buy.

Shoppers search in their browsers for electronics or appliances and drag them to their “portfolios.” Digital Folio will present prices from Amazon, Best Buy, Sears, Target and Walmart and lets the retailers quickly lower their prices if it turns out a competitor is cheaper.

Digital Folio earns commission on sales. It says more retailers will be added later.

 


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