No Flash in iPhone's imminent future

While software developer Adobe Systems continues to work on a version of its Flash mobile media player optimized for Apple's iPhone, the firm admits the challenge is proving particularly difficult--in other words, don't expect an announcement anytime soon. "It's a hard technical challenge, and that's part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating," Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen told Bloomberg Television at the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver."

Adobe confirmed its plans to develop Flash for iPhone in October 2008--earlier in the year, Apple CEO Steve Jobs caused a stir when he proclaimed that a large chunk of web video content is unavailable for viewing via iPhone because Flash simply isn't good enough. Jobs said the iPhone requires a media player more robust than the current Flash mobile solution, arguing that while the Flash Player for laptops fits the bill, it is designed for devices larger than the iPhone, and therefore performs too slowly on handsets.

For more on Adobe's iPhone effort:
-read this PC World article