Adobe announces new Flash technology for pretty much every smartphone — except iPhones

October 4, 2009 | Anthony Ha | Comments | |

android_flash11

Update: Adobe just released some big news regarding Flash and iPhones.

As speculation continues about when Adobe’s Flash platform is coming Apple’s iPhone, a new announcement suggests Apple is becoming the odd man out. Adobe says its new, more mobile-friendly version, Flash Player 10.1 should soon work on most major smartphones — including the BlackBerry, and excluding the iPhone.

Adobe says Flash already powers 75 percent of web video and 70 percent of online games, and in April 2008 it announced an initiative called the Open Screen Project to try for similar dominance on mobile phones. Development on Flash Player 10, which was released a year ago, was already nearing completion, so 10.1 is the first version developed with Adobe’s new mobile focus in mind. The company says this the first full version of Flash (as opposed to the stripped-down mobile version, Flash Light) that works on both mobile devices and PCs.

Adobe is launching this new version of Flash at its MAX conference this week in Los Angeles. Flash 10.1 will support mobile capabilities like multi-touch and accelerometers. Adobe says software rendering performance on mobile has improved by more than 87 percent, memory consumption has dropped 55 percent, and Flash 10.1 also conserves battery life. A bunch of smartphone partners, including new ones like BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion, are already signed up:

  • A public beta test version for developers should be available for Windows Mobile, Palm webOS, and desktop devices by the end of 2009.
  • A test version should be available for Android and Symbian phones in early 2010.
  • Adobe and RIM are developing a version of Flash for BlackBerrys.
  • Flash 10.1 should be available to the public in the first half of 2010.

This news could put pressure one Apple in a couple ways. First, if every smartphone but the iPhone can support Flash content, the iPhone is going to look comparatively crippled — which might push Apple to work with Adobe to resolve whatever obstacles remain. (That would be a boon for web developers, and Adobe itself, who have had to find workarounds to bring Flash content to the iPhone.)

Plus, broad mobile support for Flash means developers could build a rich web app that’s accessible on almost any phone via mobile browsers. That’sa very different model from the one popularized by Apple, where companies build separate, downloadable apps for each smartphone platform, and sell them in an App Store.

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Anthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on enterprise technology, cloud computing, and tech policy. Before joining VentureBeat in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.

  • Will
    Adobe marketing-speak often differs from what actually arrives. Existing implementations of Flash are bloated, and hog the CPU.
    When there's actually a mobile version of Flash that people can look at and use, then have this discussion, as of today though "move along, nothing to see here"
    If they ever do manage to bully Apple into putting Flash on the iPhone, I hope that there's an option to turn it off. Click2Flash is my favourite Safari plugin.
  • I guess the obvious question if you are a Mac owner, knowing how much of a crash-prone dog Flash is on Mac, do you really want it on iPhone/iPod Touch?

    Me personally, no...until Adobe fixes it on the Mac. I am sure Apple looks at Adobe ubiquity goals relative to increasingly sloggish status of Adobe apps, ESPECIALLY on Macs, and wants no part of it on their mobile platform.
  • Djam
    I think this post is not valid anymore:

    http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flashcs5/app...
  • Did you see the update at the top of the post? As I explain in the new article that I link to, this undermines some of my opinions hear, but fewer than you might think initially.
  • Eric
    So where do I get flashblock for my Blackberry?
  • Missing from the line-up - at least so far - is Apple. Take a look at what Harry McCracken has to say about that - is Flash support on phones a promise for a multimedia future, or just going to end up meaning those annoying Flash-based ads will also play on your phone, sucking your battery power?
  • "Missing from the line-up - at least so far - is Apple."

    Uh, wasn't that the whole point of my post?

    Agree that McCracken had good coverage of this, though.
  • I think its so cool that they finally came out with a app that allows flash on the phones crazie!! I'm excited can't wait to use the app.
  • i agree with your suggestion
  • I think this is great. Now even I can build an application for my iPhone.