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Microsoft Licenses Flash Lite for Windows Mobile Users

Barry Levine, newsfactor.com Mon Mar 17, 12:10 PM ET

Apple CEO Steve Jobs has said Flash isn't good enough, but Microsoft disagrees. In a move against Apple's iPhone, Microsoft is licensing Flash Lite technology -- even as it promotes its own Silverlight platform as an alternative to Flash. ADVERTISEMENT

Adobe Systems announced Monday that Microsoft will license Flash Lite for its Internet Explorer Mobile browser in Windows Mobile phones. The deal also includes licensing of Adobe Reader LE for viewing PDF documents sent as e-mail attachments or made available as Web downloads.

'Vibrant Web Experiences'

John O'Rourke, general manager of the mobile communications business at Microsoft, said bringing Flash Lite to Windows Mobile users will provide the "vibrant web experiences and access to entertainment" that users want from the Web.

The move also provides access to a technology that Apple is refusing for the iPhone. Earlier this month, Jobs told news media that Flash technology is not yet ready for the iPhone. At Apple's shareholder meeting, he said Flash Lite is not powerful enough, and that regular Flash, designed for full-featured computers, runs too slowly.

"There's this missing product in the middle," Jobs told Dow Jones news service.

His dissing of Flash disappointed consumers and developers encouraged by blog reports that it was only a matter of time before Flash landed on the revolutionary iPhone.

'Big Win for Flash Lite'

"This is a big win for Flash Lite," said Sean Ryan, an analyst with industry research firm IDC. He added that even though Apple has decided against Flash Lite, the iPhone still offers a high level of entertainment, including playing YouTube videos. He also noted that Apple's recently released software development kit will enable third-party developers to create new applications for the iPhone.

But the bigger problem for video and other full-feature entertainment on the iPhone, he said, is the same as for other devices -- bandwidth. He pointed out that, if a Wi-Fi hot spot is not available, a device really needs the speed of a 3G connection, which the iPhone does not yet offer.

Ryan also said Microsoft's adoption of Flash Lite is part of its "continued coopetition," where it cooperates with others even as it competes with them. But in this case, Microsoft is also competing with its own Silverlight, a recently released platform that was positioned to challenge Flash.

But if Adobe is feeling pressure from Silverlight or from its iPhone exclusion, it isn't showing it. In a statement accompanying the licensing announcement, the company noted that Flash Lite has been shipped to half a billion mobile devices and has 150 percent year-over-year growth. It also noted that, in addition to Windows Mobile, the technology is available on devices running Symbian S60, Qualcomm BREW, and a variety of embedded platforms.