• Gizmodo et al., Monday, October 5, 2009 2:08 PM

Increasingly, industry news cycles are dominated by mobile developments. It's not that the, um, "traditional" Web isn't witnessing innovation (Google Wave; Microsoft's Bing; the rise of real-time distribution and search a la Twitter). Rather, the dawn of the mobile Web has finally arrived (thank you, Apple), and is presently engaged a serious case of catch-up.

Ironically, Monday's mobile bombshell is all the more newsworthy because it excludes Apple. Indeed, with the exception of the Cupertino company, Adobe has announced partnerships will all the major smartphone players -- Research In Motion, Windows Mobile, Palm and Google -- to roll out full Flash capabilities to their various platforms within the next year.

Adobe's latest Flash Player 10.1 is expected to bring tons of content already developed for the web to mobile. What's more, promising an app-like experience for mobile browsers, Flash may provide developers with an alternative to building apps for each phone's platform.

Why the Apple omission? Three reasons, according to PC World: "Apple doesn't want Flash on the iPhone;" "The iPhone is created so it won't support Flash;" and "Apple is betting on a different standard."

"Make no mistake," insists Gizmodo, "Apple is the roadblock" to the deal.

(Counter-intuitively, it also suggests that the iPhone could use its lack of Flash as a selling point, explaining, "The iPhone is now basically the only place you can go to flee from Flash, which basically covers everything like a pulsating squid thing with icky tentacles and stuff, ceaselessly stretching out to ensnare more.")

Were a deal between Apple and Adobe to occur, "Flash would have to overcome its various shortcomings on mobile devices as perceived by Apple cofounder Steve Jobs" writes a clearly defensive AppleInsider.

Along with AppleInsider, however, PaidContent implies that an Apple-Adobe tie-up could still emerge at any time. "In the past, Adobe executives have stated that it is working with Apple to make Flash work on the iPhone, but that it will come out on a separate timetable," its writes.

Indeed, Apple likes to announce such developments at its own events, Avi Greengart, a research director with Current Analysis, tells MacWorld.

Read the whole story at Gizmodo et al. »