Steve Jobs still insists that Flash is irrelevant

Adobe Flash is one of the most widely used internet technologies for delivering rich graphical content. Mobile phones' inability to display Flash animation have limited their ability to truly get the "full internet". This problem has been common across the majority of smart phones from the iPhone to the RIM Blackberries, and across every carrier.

And now there is at last an incoming solution for most. Adobe has officially unveiled Flash Player 10.1, a new edition of its software that will unify full Flash Player support across a variety of platforms, including smartphones, netbooks, PCs, and other devices. Adobe is working closely with phone operating system makers to try to ensure no one is left out.

Betas will be rolled out for Google's Android OS and Symbian OS phones early next year. Meanwhile, Adobe has announced a partnership with RIM to bring the technology to the Blackberry smart phones. And a Windows Mobile, webOS (Palm Pre), and desktop developer beta of the Flash player will be rolled out before the year's end.

This means that by the middle of next year, just about everyone with a smartphone will have Flash and be exploring a richer internet. Everyone, that is, except for those that own an iPhone. Apple CEO Steve Jobs continues to insist that Flash is an irrelevant technology that Apple customers don't need and has refused to collaborate with Adobe.