Adobe Flash 10.2 Mobile for Android Only Compatible with Honeycomb

With the slew of Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphones getting released and announced at Mobile World Congress, you may want to hold off on purchasing those handsets as Adobe has recently said that its Flash 10.2 plugin will only be compatible with Android 3.0, also known as Honeycomb.

According to the company, Google had to make some changes to the underlying OS to allow Flash 10.2 to take advantage of the hardware, which suggests that hardware acceleration is present with Adobe Flash 10.2 with Android Honeycomb.

The new release includes support for innovative new features including Stage Video, which delivers much improved video performance through optimizing hardware acceleration on mobile devices, desktops and TVs. Stage Video decreases processor and memory usage while enabling higher frame rates and improved video quality. Test results show up to 80 percent CPU savings when playing back video in 1080p on Windows® and Mac OS. Stage Video support for mobile devices will be available on Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” and BlackBerry Tablet OS. Existing H.264 video content on the Web will benefit from Stage Video on mobile platforms without any changes to the content.

While in the past, Google has stated that Android 3.0 Honeycomb was built for tablets, it wasn’t clear if that version of the Google OS would make it to the smartphone platform as well. However, Adobe’s Flash announcement states that Flash 10.2 would be coming in the next few weeks to both smartphones and tablets, suggesting that Adroid 3.0 Honeycomb would also make its way down to the smartphone platform in addition to supporting new tablets, such as the Motorola Xoom, the Galaxy Tab 10.1, and the LG Optimus Pad.

When Google had announced that Adobe Flash 10.1 was coming to Android, the company had stated that Android 2.2 was a basic requirement for Flash support. With Adobe Flash 10.2, Adobe says that there will be battery life improvements over Adobe Flash 10.1 for mobile devices as the newer edition of the plugin won’t tax the CPU as much.

Press Release:

Adobe Reports Strong Mobile Adoption of Flash Player and AIR; High Expectations for 2011

Company Showcases Performance Advancements with Flash Player 10.2

Mobile World Congress 2011

BARCELONA, Spain–(BUSINESS WIRE)–At Mobile World Congress, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) announced that developers and content publishers can now deploy Adobe® AIR® applications to more than 84 million smartphones and tablets running Android and iOS. Thousands of applications have been created and made available on Android Market and Apple’s App Store to date. By the end of 2011, Adobe expects more than 200 million smartphones and tablets to support Adobe AIR applications. For examples of popular AIR applications for Android and iOS, visit m.flash.com.

“We are thrilled to see mobile adoption of Flash Player and AIR exceeding even our own expectations, with much more to come in the months ahead”

In addition, Adobe announced that more than 20 million smartphones were shipped or upgraded with Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 software on over 35 certified devices in the first six months following the launch. For 2011, the company expects Flash Player to be supported on more than 132 million units worldwide. More than 50 tablets are expected to support Flash Player this year alone. Using Adobe Creative Suite® 5 tools, over three million Adobe Flash Platform developers are now able to author content across a substantial number of devices for both Flash Player and AIR.

“We are thrilled to see mobile adoption of Flash Player and AIR exceeding even our own expectations, with much more to come in the months ahead,” said David Wadhwani, senior vice president, Creative and Interactive Solutions Business Unit, Adobe. “This is tremendous progress toward ensuring that mobile users everywhere have access to their favorite content from casual games to Web video and enterprise applications regardless of what device they are using. And, our CS5 customers are excited about the ability to easily extend their creative work across millions of mobile devices.”

Adobe is also showcasing the latest release of Flash Player – Flash Player 10.2 – along with additional performance advancements at the conference. The new release includes support for innovative new features including Stage Video, which delivers much improved video performance through optimizing hardware acceleration on mobile devices, desktops and TVs. Stage Video decreases processor and memory usage while enabling higher frame rates and improved video quality. Test results show up to 80 percent CPU savings when playing back video in 1080p on Windows® and Mac OS. Stage Video support for mobile devices will be available on Android 3.0 “Honeycomb” and BlackBerry Tablet OS. Existing H.264 video content on the Web will benefit from Stage Video on mobile platforms without any changes to the content.

Adobe AIR

A key element of the Adobe Flash Platform, AIR enables developers to leverage existing code to create and deliver standalone applications across devices and platforms. Adobe AIR supports smartphones and tablets based on Android™, iOS, BlackBerry Tablet OS, and desktops including Windows, Macintosh and Linux® operating systems. In addition, Samsung is the first television manufacturer to ship Adobe AIR in its line of Samsung SmartTV devices. With Adobe AIR, developers are able to use familiar tools including Adobe Flash Professional CS5, Adobe Flash Builder™ and Flex to build rich standalone multiscreen applications. Thousands are already available on Android Market, Apple’s App Store, Adobe InMarket and Intel AppUpSM center today.

Adobe AIR enables rich application experiences through a series of features, including support for accelerometer, camera, video, microphone, multi-touch and gestures. Support for geolocation allows developers to create location-based applications and services. AIR is also able to display native browser controls within the application allowing for the integration of HTML and .SWF content. With SQLite support developers can easily store and cache databases inside an AIR application.

Adobe Flash Player

One of the top free apps on Android Market, with more than 6 million downloads to date and more than 150,000 users giving it a 4.5-out-of-5 star rating, Flash Player brings rich Flash based content to mobile devices inside the browser. In addition to Android Market, the runtime is distributed directly by device manufacturers and operators via pre-installs and operating system upgrades.

Flash Player is available today on Android, HP webOS and Google TV. BlackBerry Tablet OS, future versions of Windows® Phone, LiMo, Samsung SmartTVs and others are also expected to support Flash Player. For a list of certified devices, visit https://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/supported_devices/smartphones.html. For examples of the broad variety of content running in Flash Player on the Web, visit m.flash.com.