Adobe announced today that their latest version of Flash player is being released for Android phones, with support for other smartphone platforms (except iPhone) rolling out soon. This follows shortly after their release for desktop platforms just under two weeks ago.
From the press release:
Flash Player 10.1 will be available as a final production release for smart phones and tablets once users are able to upgrade to Android 2.2 “Froyo.” Devices supporting “Froyo” and Flash Player 10.1 are expected to include the Dell Streak, Google Nexus One, HTC Evo, HTC Desire, HTC Incredible, DROID by Motorola, Motorola Milestone, Samsung Galaxy S and others. Flash Player 10.1 was also released to mobile platform partners to be supported on devices based on Android, BlackBerry, webOS, future versions of Windows® Phone, LiMo, MeeGo and Symbian OS, and is expected to be made available via over-the-air downloads and to be pre-installed on smart phones, tablets and other devices in the coming months.
Even though they are labeling Flash 10.1 as a dot release, it represents significant feature upgrades from the previous version; notably in the arenas of performance and video features. While certainly Flash gaming is a market to be reckoned with, looking at the content partnerships that have been announced (including HBO, Warner Brothers, Turner, and Sony Pictures among others), it’s clear to see that this is a strong move in the war for video content on your mobile device.
Mobile-specific features that have been announced include accelerometer support for switching between portrait and landscape modes, Smart Zooming, and hardware tweaks specific to each platform to optimize performance and battery life. Another tech called Smart Rendering tells the device to only render what’s on screen, further improving battery life. They’ve also announced Advanced Out-of-Memory Management “allows the player to effectively handle non-optimized content that consumes excessive resources, while automatic memory reduction decreases content usage of RAM by up to 50 percent.” In addition, Flash has been made aware of phone features so that content pauses if a call comes in.
Adobe Flash 10.1 for mobile should be available to Froyo (Android 2.2) users today, via over-the-air update, Marketplace, or via content push from 10.1-aware content. Adobe says, “The upgrade mechanism will vary by device and device manufacturer.”
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