Success of Adobe Flash 10.1 on smartphones ‘not definite’

Earlier this week, Adobe announced the arrival of its Flash Player 10.1 product, which can be used in smartphones, among other gadgets, such as netbooks and PCs.

However, despite offering a lot of potential to consumers who want their phones to essentially do everything a computer with the same software can, the success of this set-up is not certain, one expert remarked.

Andrew Laughlin from digitalspy.co.uk said there are questions over whether handsets will have the power and battery life required to make Flash a viable option for the mass market.

There are many further developments to come later on and the emergence of Flash 10.1 might not necessarily mean a boom in mobile video usage, he added.

"We will know more when the first handsets launch next year … we are still at the early stages of video-on-demand and live video streams on fixed broadband networks, so mobile will probably take a while before it becomes a seriously prominent platform.

Mr Laughlin referenced a recent report published by the Communications Consumer Panel, which found that approximately one-third of mobile phone users in the UK have problems with making calls and sending texts due to poor connections.

He said while this is still a concern, it might be too early to consider the popularity of more complex technology.

Apple iPhone users wondering about Adobe Flash 10.1 may already know that the phone will not be able to use the software as Apple’s web browser, Safari, cannot support plug-ins.