Chapter 1. Introducing the Flash Communication Server
Macromedia Flash has evolved from a way to easily create and
distribute lightweight animated graphics on the Web to a rich
application platform. Macromedia reported that Flash Player 6 was
available on more than 94% of Internet-accessible workstations in
Canada, the United States, and Europe as of June 2004. Availability
in Asia exceeded 92%. Flash Player 7 penetration ranged
from 67% in the U.S. to 81% in Europe. (For the latest statistics,
see http://www.macromedia.com/software/player_census/flashplayer/version_penetration.html.)
Flash Player 6 and 7 provide some remarkable capabilities to the
hundreds of millions of machines on which they are already installed.
With the user's consent, a Flash movie can capture
real-time audio and video from the machine's
microphone or web cam and stream it to Flash Communication Server MX.
(Here we use the term movie to refer to
.swf
files. We use the term
video
for visual content streamed
from the server.) The server can redistribute the streams to other
users who have the Flash Player. The resulting real-time
communications make it possible to develop a remarkable range of
compelling applications. The Flash authoring tool and the
Flash Communication Server MX can
be used to create:
Highly customized video conferences, team meetings, and web chats
with shareable components such as versioned text areas, whiteboards,
and instant polls Video- and data-on-demand applications with rich user interfaces that
can include closed captions and skinnable controls Live event broadcasting with customizable user interaction such as
moderated chat and question/answer components Multiplayer games, simulations, and other applications with the added
value of audio and video if required
Flash and the Flash Communication Server MX (FlashCom) provide a rich
development environment in which applications that clearly match
requirements can be created without an outrageous investment in
development time. The Flash Player and FlashCom support a rich set of
objects that make sharing real-time audio, video, and data remarkably
simple. In addition, Flash provides a set of
user interface components such as the
DataGrid,
Tree,
ComboBox,
Accordion, and
MenuBar, among
others. The Flash authoring tool includes a full complement of tools
for manually or programmatically generating vector graphics and
animations, making it possible to create unique and rich custom user
interfaces that can present and update data including audio and
video. See the Preface for additional important details about the
video delivery options made available by Flash and the FlashCom
Server.
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