Palm Pre Runs Flash on Video — Could Be First Handset for Flash 10.1

Earlier today, we reported on the Adobe Flash developments for mobile phones, courtesy of Flash 10.1. Thanks to one of our readers, you can see what it looks like on a Palm Pre. BaDZeD pointed out this YouTube video demonstration of the Palm Pre running Flash in three unique web browser cards. Adrian Ludwig from Adobe says in the video that the Pre will be one of the first devices to see Flash. In the demo, you can see how a Flash object will pause on the Pre when you switch to another card — see the Disney movie trailer and the will.i.am song in the online music player to get a feel for it. Adrian explains that this is to help with battery life and CPU consumption, although I suspect that Flash will eat up the Pre’s battery quite quickly.

Regardless of that potential constraint, this looks fantastic, and I’m hoping that the Pre isn’t just “one of the first,” but is the first device for the Flash implementation. Last year when Adobe announced full Flash support for mobiles, I had hoped for a 2009 release, but it looks like early 2010 is the target. Either way, it shouldn’t be too long of a wait. With all of the Flash-based games out on the web, I’m thinking this might help offset Palm’s lack of third-party app availability. No, Flash won’t replace an app catalog with a boatload of titles, but it should lessen the pain a little.

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