Garnering support from industry leaders, Adobe has announced new Flash Player 10.1 for smartphones, smartbooks, netbooks, PCs and other Internet-connected devices.

Adobe has announced Flash Player 10.1 software for smartphones, smartbooks, netbooks, PCs and other Internet-connected devices. A public developer beta of the browser-based runtime is expected to be available for Windows Mobile, Palm webOS and desktop operating systems including Windows, Macintosh and Linux later this year. Public betas for Google Android and Symbian OS are expected to be available in early 2010.

In addition, Adobe and RIM announced a joint collaboration to bring Flash Player to Blackberry smartphones, and Google joined close to 50 other industry players in the Open Screen Project initiative.

Adobe Flash Player 10.1 is said to be the first consistent runtime release of the Open Screen Project that enables Web browsing of expressive applications, content and high definition (HD) videos across devices.

“Using the Web programming model of the Flash Platform, the browser-based runtime enables millions of designers and developers to reuse code and assets and reduce the cost of creating, testing and deploying content across different operating systems and browsers. Flash Player 10.1 is easily updateable across all supported platforms to ensure rapid adoption of new innovations that move the Web forward,” the company explained.

The browser-based runtime leverages the power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for accelerated video and graphics while conserving battery life and minimising resource utilisation. New mobile-ready features that take advantage of native device capabilities include support for multi-touch, gestures, mobile input models, accelerometer and screen orientation. Flash Player 10.1 will also take advantage of media delivery with HTTP streaming, including integration of content protection powered by Adobe Flash Access 2.0. This effort, code-named Zeri, will be an open format based on industry standards and will provide content publishers, distributors and partners the tools they need to utilise HTTP infrastructures for high-quality media delivery in Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR 2.0 software.

“With Flash Player moving to new mobile platforms, users will be able to experience virtually all Flash technology based Web content and applications wherever they are,” said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president, platform business unit, Adobe. “We are excited about the broad collaboration of close to 50 industry leaders in the Open Screen Project and the ongoing collaboration with 19 out of the top 20 handset manufacturers worldwide. It will be great to see first devices ship with full Flash Player in the first half of next year.”

“Motorola is excited to be one of the first handset manufacturers to ship Android-based devices with Flash Player support early next year,” said Christy Wyatt, vice president, software applications and ecosystem, Motorola.

“As a long-time partner of Adobe, and more than 400 million Nokia phones shipped with existing Flash technology to date, we are excited to see Flash Player becoming a reality for mobile phones and other mobile devices,” said Purnima Kochikar, vice president, Forum Nokia. “Nokia is excited about full Flash Player coming to devices and we are committed to supporting Flash Player 10.1 on mobile devices in 2010.”

Source: EFY Times