Adobe to make video on smartphones as on PCs
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Adobe Systems, which popularized the use of video and animation on the Web, is introducing a new version of its Flash software that runs not only on computers but also on the latest high-end mobile phones.
Adobe, which makes Acrobat, Flash and Photoshop software, plans to bring a full PC version of its Flash video player to smartphones next year, but has no imminent deal to announce for Apple's influential iPhone, it said.
With such a move, Adobe will allow developers to design visually rich software that works on smartphones just as it does on computers -- eliminating the common and frustrating experience of files appearing in garbled form on phones.
The company will be previewing its Flash Player 10 for smartphones at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the industry's biggest annual gathering.
Smartphones with Flash Player 10 running on Google's Android, Microsoft's Windows Mobile and Nokia's Symbian S60 platforms should be on the market next year, said David Wadhwani, Adobe's platform business chief.
He said Adobe was still working with Apple on an iPhone version but would not be announcing anything on that subject at this week's show.
Unfortunately, I don't have any new information to provide, he told Reuters in a telephone interview. We don't have anything to announce at the show on that topic.
Adobe, which revolutionized the way video, pictures and documents could be viewed and edited on the Web -- helping the rise of sites like YouTube -- has already shipped its pared-down Flash Lite video player in almost 1 billion mobile phones.
Last year, almost 40 percent of all new mobile devices shipped contained Flash Lite, and Adobe said it expects to ship another 1.5 billion in the next two years.
(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Hans Peters)
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