For more than a year, Adobe Systems (NSDQ: ADBE) has been trying to get its popular Flash technology that plays videos on computers onto smartphone devices. Later this year, we’ll see some of the its first achievements when a trial makes it on to the Palm (NSDQ: PALM), Google (NSDQ: GOOG) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) operating systems, but the company still has a long road ahead, according to a report in the WSJ, which takes a close look at the company’s progress in mobile.
Kevin Lynch, Adobe’s CTO: “Smart phones are where the game is now. Our chips are on the table. We’ve made our bets.” But it’s not that easy. For all of its hard work, it still has no idea when Flash will make it on to the on to the iPhone or the BlackBerry. It doesn’t sound like it’s for technical reasons either, but rather because of competitions. Analysts suspect that both Research In Motion and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) have been reluctant to embrace Flash because they differentiate themselves based applications, and if it’s only available on one platform, then consumers will base their decision accordingly.
Because of the hurdles they’ve encountered, the company has simultaneously been working on the Open Screen Project, which would enable Flash-based products to work on phones, computers or TVs without being altered. Adobe has struck alliances with a number of key companies, like Nokia, to help make this happen. The WSJ reports that creating a single version of Flash is a huge shift for the company. Previously, there were two camps: Flash and Flash Lite (for phones). The groups were so separate, they were even on different floors of the building until December. Whether it will work, it’s unclear. Nokia and Adobe have partnered to create a $10 million fund to encourage developers to create applications using the Flash. The WSJ reports that so far five grants have been awarded.
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