Adobe has confirmed that a beta version of Flash Player 10.1 has officially been made available to content providers and mobile developers – with general availability of the platform expected during the first half of 2010.
Adobe spokesperson David Wadhwani explained that Flash 10.1 is the first consistent runtime release of the Open Screen Project that enables “uncompromised” Web browsing of applications, content and HD video across various devices, including smartphones, netbooks, smartbooks and desktops.
“According to a Strategy Analytics analysis from January 2010, more than 250 million smartphones are expected to support the full Flash Player by the end 2012. Mobile platforms that will support the full Flash Player include Android, the BlackBerry platform, Symbian OS, Palm webOS and Windows Mobile,” said Wadhwani.
He noted that Adobe had also unveiled its Air platform for mobile devices – with full Android support expected in 2010.
“AIR enables developers to deliver Web applications outside the constraints of a browser. With support for mobile devices Adobe AIR includes specific functionality offered by mobile operating systems and devices such as multi-touch, gesture inputs, accelerometer, geolocation and screen orientation,” said Wadhwani.
“[In addition], developers using Adobe Flash Professional CS5 with the Adobe Packager for iPhone can reuse their iPhone application code to create the same application for Android.”
