At the Flash on the Beach 08 conference being held in Brighton, England, Adobe’s Senior Director of Engineering, Paul Betlem, confirmed that a Flash Player is in development for the iPhone. The information was provided in answer to a direct question from an audience member during the Town Hall meeting sessions held during the conference, historically a good source of Adobe news.
Adobe’s Official Word
According to Betlem, Adobe is working on the iPhone Flash Player, but the iPhone is a closed platform. In other words, it’s entirely up to Apple as to if and when they will allow the player onto the iPhone.
You may remember it was only earlier this spring that Apple CEO Steve Jobs deemed the current version of Flash Lite, the scaled-down version of Flash for mobile phones, as not being good enough for the iPhone. According to Jobs, Flash Lite would spoil the iPhone experience. He also noted that the desktop version wouldn’t work either as it would run too slowly on the iPhone. What he called for was the creation of a “missing product in the middle.”
Apparently, Adobe has heeded that call and has been busy building that middle-of-the-road version. The only question now is whether or not it will be good enough. At this point, Apple may be feeling the pressure to make Flash work considering Microsoft’s recent licensing of Flash and Reader LE on Windows Mobile.
When Will It Arrive?
As to when we will see Flash on iPhone, it’s anybody’s guess. However, according to AppleInsider, the iPhone/iPod Touch software will be updated next month to v2.2 beta 1. Included in the update will be a newer version of Safari, which has been redesigned to relocate the Google Search bar to the right of the Address Bar. Also in the update will be a new App Store which will feature a new categories page with large category icons and more spacing between each listing.
We suppose it’s too much to hope for that the new version of Flash would be pushed down with this upcoming update as well, but Apple has been known to surprise us before.
POLL: What Do You Think About Flash On iPhone?
We’re looking forward to having Flash on the iPhone, but we’re curious what you think. Has it been difficult for you to use your iPhone/iPod Touch without it? Or do you think “good riddance!” having never liked Flash in the first place? Please take our poll and let us know your thoughts.
