Adobe preps Jesus Phone Flash Player

Awaits Jobsian blessing

By Gavin Clarke • Get more from this author

Posted in Mobile, 30th September 2008 23:05 GMT

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Adobe Systems could soon join the ranks of frustrated tech companies building versions of their software for Apple's Jesus Phone.

Adobe has reportedly confirmed it's planning a version of the ubiquitous Flash player for use on Apple's iPhone that could be available "in a very short time."

Paul Betlem, Adobe's senior director of engineering, told the company's Flash on the Beach (FOTB) conference in Brighton that his team is building the player for the iPhone.

Adobe can build all the software it wants for the iPhone: It's up to Apple to say whether it can be deployed on the closed handset.

Betlem noted Apple has the last word on what runs on the iPhone, but said Adobe will have the player ready should Apple give its blessing.

Adobe's executive was wise to speak cautiously. Sun Microsystems was embarrassed in March when it rashly committed to a version of its Java Virtual Machine (JVM) for the newest version of the iPhone only to discover the end user licensing agreement for Apple's Software Development Kit (SDK) actually prohibited Java on the phone.

Before that, number-one business applications company SAP a year ago admitted it got its knuckles rapped by Apple after it installed one of its applications on the phone having hacked the iPhone's software. ®

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