Abobe: Flash Lite will be on 1 billion phones by year's end

The amount of shipped mobile devices and handsets enabled with Abode Flash Lite technology has reached more than 800 million.

Last week, Abode launched its latest software Adobe Flash Lite 3 in the US, which will support Adobe Flash Player compatible video and enable the delivery of web content to smartphones such as iPhones.

Adobe said it expects the number of worldwide shipped devices to reach one billion by the end of 2009 and 2.5 billion by the end of 2010.

Flash Lite 3 allows mobile manufacturers, operators and content providers to diversify their offerings by giving users the ability to watch Flash Player compatible video and browse Flash enabled websites when integrated with a mobile web browser.

Flash Lite 3 more closely replicates the desktop experience delivered by Adobe Flash Player. This gives mobile users the freedom to access content whenever and wherever they want, while efficient resource management capabilities significantly improve and optimise performance for mobile devices.

With Flash Lite 3, developers worldwide are able to create more engaging applications, interfaces and mobile assets that integrate video, as well as develop innovative and dynamic mobile assets such as wallpapers, screensavers or casual games.

Adobe senior vice president for mobile and devices Al Ramadan said, “With Flash Lite 3 and its support for video, we’ve passed a major milestone in bringing a desktop experience to mobile and transforming the wireless industry.

“Today, mobile users experience amazing Flash based user interfaces and applications with handsets like the LG Prada, the LG Chocolate or the Samsung D900. With Flash Lite 3, tomorrow’s devices will offer even richer, more engaging experiences,” Mr Ramadan said.

NTT DoCoMo was the first company to incorporate Flash technology into mobile phones. Nokia has also committed to Flash Lite 3.

Key features of Flash Lite include:

- FLV support, including H.264, On2 VP6, and Sorenson video codecs,

- A more complete web experience on mobile devices by providing access to content and video created with Adobe Flash,

- Delivery of high-definition video content and rich applications to Internet‐connected TVs and TV‐connected consumer electronic devices in the digital living room,

- Optimised performance for mobile and digital home devices,

- Object-based extension mechanism for accelerated UI and application design,

- Integrated authoring environment for mobile devices,

- Multi-platform support.