Full-fat Flash finally released for smartphones

Adobe has released Flash Player 10.1 the first version of the media player to provide full support for Flash content on smartphones.

After fighting a months-long flame war over the lack of Flash support on Apple devices, Adobe can now finally change the story to focus on devices that can run Flash content. Or at least, it will just as soon as mobile platform providers and handset makers meet the new player's system requirements.

Android users will probably get there first, just as soon as Google rolls out Android 2.2 - also known as Froyo. Alternatively, a Beta 3 version is available now from the Android Market for those not willing to wait.

Adobe has released code to allow future devices on the BlackBerry, webOS, Symbian, Meego, Linux Mobile and Windows Phone 7 platforms to feature full Flash support, while efforts are being made to bring the player to Samsung's Wave operating system too. Apple owners, of course, won't be seeing it at all.

According to Adobe, Flash Player 10.1 is specifically optimised for mobile devices, supporting new input options such as multitouch input and adding accelerometer support to allow switching between landscape and portrait modes.

Adobe has also introduced power-saving features such as the Smart Rendering system, which only renders content visible on screen to help extend battery life, while media playback can now be paused to allow switching to other applications.