Adobe launched a full version of Flash for mobile devices today, for Google’s Android operating system. The desktop version of Flash 10.1 is also available today.

Mobile users will need to be patient. Only Android 2.2 runs Flash 10.1 — and only the Nexus One currently has it. Motorola’s Droid will be next in line and several other Android 2.1 phones will go Froyo within the next six months, or by year-end.

It was once reported that Flash 10.1 would work on Android versions 2.1 and higher, but Adobe’s announcement only mentions Android 2.2.
Here’s the Android 2.2 update schedule according to PC World:

• Nexus One: Google’s flagship phone is first in line for the Froyo upgrade
• Motorola Droid: The second in line for Android 2.2 upgrade. Early reports suggested the Droid could see Froyo before the end of June.
• HTC Droid Incredible: HTC says its newest Droid handset will be Froyo, but no specific timeframe has been released outside of sometime “in the second half of this year.”
• HTC EVO 4G: The EVO should get Froyo sometime in the next six months.
• MyTouch 3G and MyTouch 3G Slide: The entire MyTouch line of phones on T-Mobile is expected to see Froyo before the end of 2010.
• HTC Desire: It’s not yet available in the States, but this HTC handset is on-tap to get the Android 2.2 upgrade sometime in the next six months as well.

Adobe released a test version of Flash to the public about a month ago, but this is the real launch of the finished product. Flash 10.1 is now available for download on phones using the latest version of Android, 2.2, which is known as FroYo.

New Flash Player features include; Multitouch and gestures, Content protection, Sleep mode, and support for mobile platforms.

Already one of the top free apps on Android Market today, 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.

The company says it has shipped Flash to its other device partners, so that Flash should soon be available on BlackBerry, Palm webOS, Windows Phone 7, LiMo, MeeGo, and Symbian phones — basically, all the major smartphones except for Apple’s.

“We are thrilled that more than three million Flash designers and developers are now able to unleash their creativity on the world of smart phones, tablets, netbooks, televisions and other consumer electronics,” said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president, Platform Business at Adobe.

Mochi Media is launching a Flash 10.1 based site that will allow Froyo users to play 25 browser based games on launch.

Flash Player 10 is not available for Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows ME, Mac OS X v10.1–10.3, and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 and 4 operating systems. They require Flash Player 9

Adobe didn’t formally announce any advancements in security, one of the chief criticisms of the platform, and the chief obstacle that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has cited in not putting Flash on the iPhone platform, now called iOS 4. Here’s Steve Job’s Thoughts on Flash and Adobe’s Thoughts on Open Markets.

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After spending many months on development and beta testing, Adobe has released the latest version of its Flash Player.

You can download Flash Player 10.1 for Mac, Windows and Linux at Adobe’s website. You’ll need to shut down all of your browsers while it installs. There’s a version of Flash Player 10.1 coming for Android, but it won’t be ready until later this summer. A beta version is available in the Android Marketplace if you want to test it out.

This release is significant for a number of reasons. Most of all, the underlying code has been largely re-written to address the platform’s key shortcomings. Anyone who follows the news knows Flash Player has been roundly criticized lately for its performance problems, its battery-sucking tendencies and its security issues. There’s no Flash allowed on iPads and iPhones for these reasons, and Apple (along with others like Mozilla and Opera) is calling for an end to the plug-in’s dominance as a video delivery mechanism on the web.

Microsoft’s competing Silverlight plug-in for video is winning hearts and minds, reaching 60% penetration on web-connected PCs this spring. Adobe says over 95% of web-connected PCs have Flash Player installed.

Persons of great influence are turning their backs on Flash, but Adobe is hoping this update will spark an attitude change. It has rolled in dozens of improvements which directly address the issues of performance, security and power consumption.

As we first saw in the beta release, the runtime has been re-written to consume less system memory, and Flash Player will automatically shut off if it detects that memory is running low. It can also prioritize the amount of processing power being used by each instance of Flash Player that’s running. So if you have several browser tabs open with Flash content displayed in each tab, the movie you’re watching right now will stay running at full power while the idle instances are dialed back or shut off.

These enhancements should prevent nasty problems like Flash Player causing your browser to crash or your entire OS to freeze, which is usually the result of more Flash than your computer can handle at once — something netbook owners know all too well. Mac users will also notice a significant improvement, as the Flash team says it has paid particular attention to Mac OS X and Safari issues in this release.

On the security front, the new Flash Player will fully honor the rules of your browser’s private browsing mode by not caching any data on the local system while private browsing is enabled.

There are a raft of video improvements — we get hardware-accelerated H.264 video decoding, better HTTP streaming that supports dynamic bitrates for live video streams, and support for peer-assisted video streams (aka “Multicasting”). There’s also a new buffering system, so you can pause, rewind and fast-forward streaming video just like you’re watching it on a DVR (as long as the provider is allowing for it).

There’s no mention here of support for the new WebM video format, which Google, Opera and Mozilla launched last month to serve as an open alternative to H.264. But Adobe has pledged support for WebM in Flash Player, so hopefully we’ll see it sooner rather than later.

However, Flash Player 10.1 does support multi-touch input surfaces, one of Steve Jobs’ sticking points in his “Thoughts on Flash” essay about why Apple isn’t supporting the technology. Multi-touch capability isn’t likely to change Apple’s mind about inviting Flash to the table, but this feature will be a huge boon to those Android tablets that are supposed to be showing up any day now to kill the iPad.

This is obviously a huge release for Adobe, as it comes at a time when the company is under attack for its platform’s pitfalls. So, why the weak-sounding 10.1 numbering, which gives the impression that it’s just an incremental upgrade? Wouldn’t it have been better if they had called it Flash Player 11 since there’s so much new here?

We can save the “This Flash Goes to 11″ headline for the next time around.

Another bit of Adobe software got an update today: AIR. We’ll have more on that later.

See Also:

• Who Needs Flash?
• Adobe Revamps Flash Player for Netbooks, P2P, Private Browsing
• Flash Faces Down Threats on Adobe’s Big Day
• Apple Taunts Flash With List of ‘iPad Ready’ Websites
• Why Flash Isn’t Going Anywhere, iPad Be Damned

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Adobe Intros Flash Player 10.1 Pre-Beta for Android
Today Adobe announced the availability of Flash Player 10.1 pre-beta for the Android platform. The new Flash Player reviewer beta works on devices running Android 2.2 Froyo and up. The player has been built into the browser, and allows … (follow link to read)

Read more on Phone Scoop

In a recent update on their Flash blog, Adobe have announced that they’re opening sign-ups for beta testing of the Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe Air 2.0 app for Android.

To be one of the first to test the Flash apps you’ll have to head on over to their blog and register your details.

In the blog posting Adobe’s Adobe’s Lee Brimelow said that:

“We just started the private betas and we are really looking forward to getting these technologies into your hands as soon as possible. There are going to be so many interesting things that you will be able to do on Android and there are also going to be many new skills that (developers) will need to learn, especially if you are new to mobile design”.

There are currently two different sign-up pages for Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe Air 2.0, so if you’d like to trial them both you’ll have to submit your details twice.

Still no announcement on when we can expect the official release, but we imagine it can’t be far off now.

[via theflashblog.com]

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Adobe Flash Player 10.1 Android Testers Wanted

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Last week Adobe released a demo video showing their Flash Player 10.1 software up and running on the Google Nexus One. Well this week it’s the turn of the popular Motorola Droid to receive the same Flash treatment.

In newly released footage, Adobe’s Adrian Ludwig showcases Flash Player 10.1 running well on the Droid with the Android 2.0 software.

When compared to the Nexus One and Android 2.1, the Droid’s Flash video playback does seem to stutter a little bit more than the N1, whether this is down to the 2.0 software remains to be seen.

Flash Player 10.1 is expected to be released for the Google Nexus One in the first half of 2010

For more information on Android and the current Android mobile phones, check out our Android Guides

Motorola Droid Running Flash Player 10.1 Video

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