Everyone Is Getting The Flash 10.1 Story Wrong

Comments made recently by Adobe's CEO about Flash Player 10.1 for mobile have been completely misunderstood. Adobe has not delayed its plan to deliver Flash Player 10.1 at all. It will still be ready before the end of the first half of 2010.This story has been driving me nuts for nearly a week, so I contacted Adobe to find out what's really going on.

Last week, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said in an on-air interview with FOX Business News, "Smartphone companies like Google and RIM and Palm are going to be releasing versions of Flash on smartphones and tablets in the second half of the year."

That statement has led to a number of blog posts complaining that Adobe isn't going to meet its deadline and has delayed Adobe Flash Player 10.1 for smartphones.

No. No. No.

Adobe has publicly committed to delivering Flash Player 10.1 by the end of the first half of 2010. That means no later than June 30. If Adobe delivers Flash Player 10.1 on June 30, it will still be on time.

Adobe has confirmed for InformationWeek that it is in fact on schedule. Adobe spokesperson Stefan Offermann told InformationWeek via email, "Adobe is still on track making Flash Player 10.1 for first mobile platforms including Android available before the end of the first half of 2010."

So what, then. did Narayen mean? Think about it for a minute. If Adobe delivers Flash 10.1 on June 30 exactly, there's no way phone makers could deploy it before July 1, right? July 1 is the start of the second half of the year.

It's pretty simple math. Of course "smartphone companies like Google and RIM and Palm are going to be releasing versions of Flash on smartphones and tablets in the second half of the year." That doesn't mean Adobe isn't meeting its stated goal of delivering Flash 10.1 by the end of the first half of the year.

It's not delayed.