Macromedia has announced Macromedia Central, a tool for creating and viewing Macromedia Flash content without the need for an internet connection or browser.
Most Flash content is integrated into a website, and must be viewed through a browser with the Macromedia Flash plug-in. But Macromedia seems to want to extend its tool for creating and delivering multimedia content such as games and animations beyond just active ‘net browsing. The new features will provide users with more offline content and allow developers to specifically develop for an “occasionally connected” community.
The mention of “Centrino technology” (read WiFi) in the press release for Macromedia Central suggests that desktop flash applications will be able to store data for later updating from or to the web, and possibly even interact with other computers via WiFi connection not over the Internet i.e flash-based h2h gaming, chat, etc. Release of Macromedia Central is expected this summer.