While it’s not quite a full-blown war of words, Apple CEO Steve Jobs has recently suggested that Adobe’s Flash video player is not quite up to standard for the iPhone, which has, in turn, led to Adobe responding by implying that the iPhone isn’t best suited to online connectivity without its Flash technology.
Adobe and Apple exchange words on whether Flash is \'ready\' for the iPhone. Credit: Adobe.
Jobs made his remarks this past Tuesday during an Apple shareholders’ meeting that saw him suggest that the current mobile version of Flash is simply “not capable of being used with the Web,” while the PC and laptop version of Adobe Flash is “too slow to be useful” for the iPhone.
Adobe’s answering comments, which were put forth by chief spokesman Ryan Stewart, outline that the massive amount of Flash coverage presently utilised when it comes to online video would leave the iPhone woefully ill prepared for delivering a full Web experience should it choose not to use Flash but rather continue to require video in a specific file format.
For example, Information Week reports that while hugely popular video-sharing Web site YouTube is onboard with Apple’s innovative smartphone, problems could arise seeing as only a small fraction of its online content is not Flash based, which is the same with the majority of online video.
Commenting via his blog on technology site ZDNet, Stewart went so far as to suggest that “[Apple’s] Web experience isn’t complete on the iPhone until some kind of Flash support is added.” He went on to say that various leading mobile phone manufacturers seemingly have no problems with using Flash, adding that there are presently some 450 million Flash-enabled mobile devices in the world, with 1 billion expected by the close of the decade.
However, while there’s little denying both the mobile and PC popularity and saturation of Flash, it would appear that Jobs believes that Adobe needs to create a “missing product in the middle” that would better suit Apple’s iPhone handset.
It’s possible that any emerging standoff between Apple and Adobe could be further explored today during an analyst and press event hosted by Apple, which will outline the company’s software road map for the iPhone, including the emergence of the much-awaited software development kits (SDKs).
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