Flash on the iPhone?

Flash on the iPhone?

Feb 01

It’s been a long time coming . . . and now it looks like it may become a reality.

Since the launch of the iPhone, I’ve been asking for Flash. Why? Because it just makes sense.

Think about it. Flash Player is the world’s most pervasive software platform. It is used by over 2 million professionals and reaching 99.0% of Internet-enabled desktops in mature markets as well as a wide range of devices. Flash is popping up everywhere – from mobile phones to consumer devices like the Chumby, iRiver, and Sony PSP.

So why isn’t Flash on the iPhone?

Apple CEO Steve Jobs previously said Adobe’s Flash Lite – the version designed specifically for mobile devices, just wasn’t good enough. And Adobe’s high-end desktop version was too slow on the iPhone. According to Jobs, what was needed was a “missing product in the middle.”

March 2008, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said Adobe planned to develop a Flash player for the iPhone – with or without Apple’s blessing. Later in October, Adobe Senior Director of Engineering Paul Betlem confirmed that a Flash player was in development for the iPhone – but Adobe would still need approval from Apple to get it onto their products.

The ongoing debate over Flash on the iPhone appears to be over as Narayen announced last week at the World Economic Forum that Adobe and Apple are working together in an effort to bring Flash to the iPhone.

Speaking with the Bloomberg news service at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Narayen acknowledged that even after months of striving, a workable version of Flash for the iPhone remains ‘a tough nut to crack’.

For all of us who are anxiously waiting to see Flash on the iPhone, It looks like it’s going to happen . . . someday. For now, all we have to keep us hopeful is Narayen’s statement to Bloomberg: “The onus is on us to deliver.”