Adobe still waiting for Apple to approve Flash for iPhone

While Adobe Systems is poised to launch trial versions of its Flash software for Symbian, Palm and Android smartphones, there is still no sign of Flash technology optimized for Apple's iPhone or Research In Motion's BlackBerry lineup. Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch tells The Wall Street Journal that the firm has assigned engineering teams to all major smartphones, but the delay has little to do to with technological challenges: "We need to have Apple's agreement before we can do it," Lynch said. Both Apple and RIM declined comment.

Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen says customers have been petitioning the company to extend Flash to the iPhone, but in March 2008, Apple CEO Steve Jobs contended [1] the iPhone requires a media player more robust than the existing Flash mobile solution. According to Jobs, the Flash Player for laptops fits the bill, but it is designed for devices larger than the iPhone, and therefore performs too slowly on smartphones. "There's this missing product in the middle," Jobs said.

For more on Adobe's holding pattern:
- read this Wall Street Journal article [2]

Related articles:
Adobe [3] teams with ARM to optimize Flash for mobile
BSquare to port Adobe Flash [4] to Android