Early November, Skyfire Labs released an iOS browser that promised to play Flash content, it seemed they had a hit on their hands. But no one imagined how quickly this would happen. According to Skyfire Labs, its $3 Skyfire Web Browser app became the top grossing app in the App Store within five hours – far exceeding the company’s initial projections and forcing it to temporarily stop selling the app to reduce strain on its servers.

How does it work?

To play a Flash video on a Website, Skyfire uploads the video to its servers, converts it to the iOS-friendly HTML5 format, and streams it back to the device. It’s a server-intensive process that is vulnerable to server overloads if the demand gets too high. Skyfire Labs says is working to increase its server capacity and will be accepting new purchases from the App Store as soon as their servers can support them.

For Hollywood studios and other content creators, a single format for Web video is even more enticing. It means they can create their entertainment once in Flash as the animated documentary Waltz With Bashir, from Sony Pictures Classics, was made and distribute it cheaply throughout the expanding ecosystem of digital devices. Web, mobile – and soon, television.

“Coming generations of consumers clearly expect to get their content wherever they want on it, on any device, when they want it,” said Bud Albers, the chief technology officer of the Disney Interactive Media Group, who joined Adobe executives at NAB to voice Disney’s support for the Flash format. “This gets us where we want to go.”

Personally, I think this is fantastic. Flash and TV are the perfect match. Now, all we’ll have to wait for is Flash on the iPhone. Come on Apple – get with the program!

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.”

I have waited this long . . . what’s a couple more months!

Apple chose to partner with Cingular as the provider. My guess is this is because it is a GSM network and Apple wants to sell this phone worldwide. Sure, T-Mobile would have been another viable alternative – and possible through future ‘unlocked’ versions of the iPhone – will be a player. Either way, a worldwide distribution is a great plan.

What a phone it is! Here’s the details…

In Apple Dashboard Widget style, the iPhone display contains:
SMS
Calendar
Photos
Camera
Calculator
Stocks
Maps
Weather
Notes
Clock
Settings

The primary controls include: Phone, Mail, Web, and iPod.

Because the iPhone is based on Mac OS X, you can assume that there will be tons of 2nd party ‘widget’ applications developed for the iPhone. Additionally, software manufacturers may even be able to port ‘lite’ versions of their applications to this new device.

The price? The iPhone is $499 for a 4GB model and $599 for an 8GB model with a 2-year Cingular contract and it will ship in June. Cingular contract. At first glance, that may seem high. For example, you can usually get a Treo for around $299 or less if you sign a 2-yr contract. But, when you think that it is also an iPod, you can skew the figures. A 4GB iPod Nano would cost $199 – balance price of the phone, $300. An 8GB iPod Nano would cost $249 – balance price of the phone, $350 … hmmm, I wonder if they realized that…

So, what else would I like to see in the iPhone that would make it really rock? Being both a Mac and an Adobe fanatic, I would like the best of both worlds. Hopefully by the time the iPhone actually comes to market, we will also hear rumors about Flash Lite running on this phone – either independently, or through the built in Safari browser. Rumors of the ability to create Apollo applications (Adobe’s up and coming desktop application development tool), would definitely be an added bonus!