HTC confirms native Flash support for Android Hero

San Francisco (CA) – HTC has confirmed that its Hero device will be the first Android phone to ship with native support for Adobe Flash.

“As the first Android device with Flash, the new HTC Hero represents a key milestone for Android and the Flash Platform. With close to 80 percent of all videos online delivered with Adobe Flash technology, consumers want to access rich Web content on-the-go,” explained David Wadhwani, an Adobe VP. “The collaboration with HTC offers people a more complete Flash based Web browsing experience today and presents an important step towards full Web browsing with Flash Player 10 on mobile phones in the future.”

John Wang of HTC explained that the Hero will use Flash technology and ActionScript 2.0. to deliver powerful video playback performance and provide fast access to interactive content. The Hero also offers support for Sorenson and On2 VP6 codecs.

“Adobe Flash is an important core technology for people interacting and experiencing the Web, it is only natural to be offering it on the new HTC Hero first,” said Wang. “We look forward to continuing our close collaboration with Adobe and to bringing Flash Player 10 support to our phones in the future.”

HTC also announced its participation in the Open Screen Project, which it described as a “broad industry effort” to deliver a consistent runtime across screens and provide access to all Flash technology based Web content.