Getting flashy
Adobe has confirmed that Flash Player 10.2 will be making its way onto Android tablets just a ‘few weeks' after the launch of the first Honeycomb tablet offering, Motorola's Xoom.
There were worries sparked by a Verizon advert spotted by Crunch Gear that Flash wouldn't be making an appearance on the new breed of tablets until Spring, which could mean as late as June.
This would obviously have impacted on initial demand and possibly sales of Motorola's Xoom tablet if it did not launch with or soon get full Flash support, which notably Apple's iPad lacks.
Consequently Adobe's blog will have gone some way to pleasing early Honeycomb tablet adopters.
It said: "Adobe will offer Flash Player 10.2 pre-installed on some tablets and as an OTA download on others within a few weeks of Android 3 (Honeycomb) devices becoming available, the first of which is expected to be the Motorola Xoom."
The rest of the post was unsurprisingly about how great Adobe's Flash is and why it is fundamental to mobile, which of course Steve Jobs might disagree with.
Adobe announced last week that over 20 million smartphones were shipped or upgraded with its Flash player in 2010 and expects Flash to be installed on over 132 million devices by the close of 2011, no doubt helped by the probable rise in popularity of Android tablets.
"Consumers are clearly asking for Flash support on tablet devices and the good news is that they won't have to wait long. We are aware of over 50 tablets that will ship in 2011 supporting a full web experience (including Flash support) and Xoom users will be among the first to enjoy this benefit," Adobe said.
The Xoom tablet is expected to launch in the next few days and the 3G version is coming to The Carphone Warehouse and Best Buy, while Currys and PC World will get the Wi-Fi version in Q2 of 2011.
The firm has defended the pricing of its new tablet, which will cost $800 in the US and the company's mobility chief, Sanjay Jha said the tablet will be 4G compatible on Verizon's network and was therefore worth the extra cash compared to Apple's 32GB iPad with 3G, which costs $729.
HEXUS got its hands on the new Honeycomb tablet at MWC and was impressed with its multitasking ability, graphics and speed, predicting it should do well against its competitors. Now all eyes will be on the UK pricing.
