Skyfire Brings (Some) Flash Video to iPhone - PC World

[UPDATE: Skyfire has been pulled from the App Store. Engadget says that Skyfire did the deed itself because demand for it was crushing its servers--and here's the official word.]

Wanna watch Flash video on your iPhone? If you sit around waiting for Apple and Adobe to make nice isn't worth the effort, you're going to grow moss. But a partial solution is available today: Skyfire, a browser that can play some Flash-based video that's not otherwise available on iOS devices. Apple has approved it, and it's now on the App store for $2.99.

As with the Android version that came out last spring (before FlashPlayer itself shipped for Android), the iPhone edition of the browser scans Web pages for Flash-based video. In many -- but not all -- cases, it'll pop up a thumbnail video icon, which means that it can play a version of the video converted into the iPhone's H.264 format. Click on the icon, and Skyfire will buffer and play the video.

Skyfire isn't a miracle cure for unplayable iOS video. The watching process isn't exactly seamless: When I sampled video at Comedy Central, ESPN, PCWorld, and other sites, it took from a few seconds up to about ninety seconds before video started to play, and it was sometimes a bit jumpy before settling down. Some sites, such as Hulu and network ones, are blocking this browser, and others, it just doesn't support. Just as important, major sites are doing an increasingly good job of supporting iOS devices natively -- as I bopped around the Web looking for video to watch, I found that more than I expected was playable with Safari (no conversion process required) as well as Skyfire. Basically, its a little hard to know what you'll get until you land on a page. But the browser does indeed let you watch some big-name stuff that's otherwise unavailable, and therefore serves a purpose for now. (I assume the day will come when Flash-only video is as rare as RealPlayer-only video is today.)

Like the Android version of Skyfire, this one utilizes the WebKit rendering engine built into the operating system but layers its own set of features on top. It has a bunch of items that Safari lacks, including the ability to quickly switch between mobile and full versions of Web sites; sharing via Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail; a private browsing mode; and a related-pages feature that wasn't too useful when I tried it. If you find Safari skimpy on features, you might prefer this browser. (My go-to iPhone browser, however, remains Atomic Web Browser, the most desktop-like one I've found.)

I must confess that spend virtually no time moping about the lack of Flash on the iPhone. I am, however, a fan of browser choice and competition -- so I consider the availability of Skyfire, Atomic Web Browser, Opera Mini, and others on the iPhone as good news. If you give it a try, let us know what you think.

For more smart takes on technology, visit Technologizer.com. Story copyright © 2010, Technologizer. All rights reserved.

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September Video Game Sales Tumble, Microsoft Ascendant, Sony Mum - PC World

It's bad news for everyone but Microsoft this month, with Halo: Reach putting the Xbox 360 over the top, but overall industry sales slumping 8%. Revenue dropped from $1.32 to $1.22 billion year-on-year, bringing the year-to-date total to $9.89 billion, or eight points behind last year's $10.75 billion.

Bear in mind we're talking strict retail data here. As NPD notes, "these numbers reflect the largest channel for hardware, software and accessories sales, but there are content sales happening elsewhere." Meaning digitally, of course.

And that's about all we can report officially, since NPD just moved unit sales figures behind its pay-wall. That's too bad, mostly because it means inaccurate figures from sites known for guesstimating could come to the fore. But you can't blame NPD. They're a for-profit business, and figures based on retail surveying and data collation are services rendered. They've been provided gratis for years.

What we can do, is wait a bit until the numbers appear by proxy from trusted sources, as they already have for September, courtesy after action analyst reports.

September 2010 hardware unit sales, compared to September 2009, August 2010 respectively.

484k - Xbox 360 (+37%, +36%)
312k - PlayStation 3 (-37%, +38%)
254k - Wii (-45%, -4%)

The Xbox 360 soared last month thanks to Halo: Reach, giving Microsoft an impressive year-on-year boost, even more impressive considering Halo 3: ODST was topping the charts this time last year. Microsoft Xbox 360 numbers come from a sales summary report the company released yesterday quoting NPD's (unreleased) unit estimates.

Sony's longstanding year-on-year growth finally reversed, but that's mostly due to a difficult comparison, since the price-reduced slimline PS3 launched last September. We don't have Move sales specific, and Sony declined to release a monthly sales summary, so we're in the dark on motion-control for the moment. I'm pulling PS3 unit numbers from Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, who issued a market summary paper this morning.

While we don't have DS or PSP unit tallies, Pachter's year-on-year grid shows PSP and DS sales declining 44% and 23% respectively, so it's grim news all around for portables, probably exacerbated by those of us wish-listing a 3DS or PSP2.

And here's September 2010 software, though NPD no longer ranks by platform.

1. Halo: Reach (360)
2. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PSP)
3. Dead Rising 2 (360, PS3, PC)
4. NHL 11 (360, PS3)
5. FIFA Soccer 11 (360, PS3, PS2, PSP, NDS)
6. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (PSP)
7. Mafia II (360, PS3, PC)
8. Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions (PS3, 360, NDS, Wii)
9. Metroid: Other M (Wii)
10. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360, PS3, PC)

NPD did provide Halo: Reach sales, which came to 3.3 million units, not including those in hardware bundles, and you'll note that it still topped the list against multi-platform juggernaut Madden NFL 11.

NPD notes that accessory sales were "the only category up in dollar sales for the month, driven by sales of Specialty Controllers and Audio," including "the new Playstation Move Navigation controller and Sports Champions bundle, which contributed to this accessory type's growth."

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