Flash support coming to Android, Palm's WebOS, BlackBerry; where's the iPhone?

Starting this year and rolling into 2010, expect to see a slew of new smartphones, ranging from Google's Android platform to Windows Mobile, capable of displaying Flash-powered content and video in their Web browsers. And what about the iPhone, you ask? Good question.

Adobe announced early Monday that its Flash Player 10.1 for desktop PCs, netbooks, and smartphones (indeed,  Adobe is calling its latest Flash Player the first to allow "uncompromised Web browsing" on mobile devices) is poised for launch, promising public betas of the Windows Mobile and WebOS (think Palm Pre) players by later this year. Android and Symbian (read: Nokia) support should come by early 2010, with BlackBerrys also on board, although no dates have been set.

PreCentral.net has video showing Flash support on the Palm Pre in action, and it looks mighty impressive. In the video, an Adobe rep shows off a Flash-powered game, then follows up by zooming in to a Flash music player on the Black Eyed Peas Web site; finally, we're treated to a movie trailer on Yahoo! Movies.

The rep explains that the new Flash Player support such smartphone features as multi-touch gestures (such as "pinching" and "zooming") and accelerometers (for turning the screen to landscape mode), and that the player will be able to keep multiple Flash instances running on multitasking phones (like the Pre) without ripping through the battery.

So yes ... at last, no more surfing the Web on your smartphone only to see warnings that "You must have Adobe Flash Player installed to view this content."

Pretty cool, but wait ... when's Flash Player 10.1 coming to the iPhone, again?

Well, Adobe didn't mention the iPhone in its announcement today, and indeed, Adobe and Apple have had a rocky relationship when it comes to mobile Flash. Last year, Steve Jobs dismissed the existing desktop version of Flash as "too slow to be useful" on the iPhone, and said that Flash Lite—Adobe's previous Flash app for smartphones—"is not capable of being used with the Web."

Later in 2008, an Adobe staffer said that a version of the Flash Player was in the works, but that since the iPhone was a "closed platform," Apple would have to give the OK before releasing the player on the App Store.

Since then ... crickets.

So, will Apple bow to the pressure and finally get with the Flash program, especially given the speedier processor in the new iPhone 3GS? Time will tell.

Related:
Press release [Adobe]