Adobe Flash For Mobile Pushed Back

Originally we heard rumors that Adobe Flash 10.1 would be available for some mobile platforms in the first half of 2010 but in a recent interview, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen indicated that the second half of the year is their target.Engadget is reporting that Narayen is on his media tour touting the release of Adobe's Creative Suite 5 but is discussing other aspects of Adobe's business as well. While technically Flash has been available on some mobile platforms for quite some time, it is a lower horse powered mobile version that has enough limitations that most don't consider it a true option.

Version 10.1 is supposed to bring mobile devices much closer to their full sized cousins. Blackberry, Windows Mobile, WebOS, Android and Symbian versions are all in the pipeline. Windows Mobile definitely won't have 10.1 until Windows Phone 7 ships. Adobe has already indicated they aren't going to support WinMo 6.5.

Of course, Apple's iPhone and iPad won't be getting it either, but not for lack of effort on Adobe's part. In the interview, Narayen stated that it is a business decision on Apple's part, not a technological issue. Some developers say this makes sense and argue Flash and touch screens don't mix. I don't buy it. Not everything has to work 100% effectively on a mobile platform for any of it to work. Apple's customers are the losers here.

For other mobile phone platform users though, we should start to see Flash 10.1 roll out on devices by the end of the year.