Flash

Adobe has pointed a subtle finger at Apple in a recent change to their "Get Flash" download page for their Flash Player. When viewed on an iPhone or iPod touch, it now blames Apple directly for the lack of Flash support for the device, pointing out their restrictions on "such technologies".

Software developer Adobe Systems announced on Monday that its next version of Flash Professional, which is due to hit beta next year, will allow developers to export their Flash code in a format that allows it to run as a native iPhone application. The company also stated the solution was developed without the help of Apple, though it hopes the iPhone maker will be glad of its efforts. Per Macworld, the fix is designed as a workaround that will prevent developers from having to rewrite their applications from scratch for the iPhone.

There's some cool stuff inside Apple's recently-introduced iPod nano 5G media player, including an incredibly tiny VGA sensor and for those looking to take a gander, the guys at iFixIt have already posted a teardown of the device.

Even with the iPhone 3GS's shiny new 3 megapixel camera, we still see some complaints about the lack of a flash bulb on the iPhone. Ryan wanted one so badly that he decided to make his own out of a Mophie JuicePack. He simply cut it open, connected a bright white LED and a tiny switch, and now he can add a little light whenever he needs to take a picture just by holding down a button on the case. You can check out a step-by-step guide to make your own at his website.
[via CrunchGear]

Apple may be looking to remove the need for Adobe Flash support on the iPhone through the use of CSS animations. WebKit, the twin brother of Safari and the core of MobileSafari, was recently updated to include support for CSS animations, something already available in MobileSafari. Effects available include a falling leaves effect and a "pulse" effect similar to a more toned-down version of "blink".

When Steve Jobs himself said that Flash wouldn't get on the iPhone without major improvements, many assumed that was that, but not so. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen let the cat out of the bag in a big way last week in Switzerland, stating officially that Adobe and Apple are currently working together to get Flash working on the iPhone.

Macworld '09 will be here before you know it, and rumors of what Apple might announce are starting to pop up across the web. Among talk of iMac and long-overdue Mac Mini upgrades, MacBlogz has recieved an unconfirmed tip that Apple may add a 32GB iPhone 3G alongside their 8GB and 16GB models.

Adobe and ARM have both announced that they will be working together to optimize Adobe Flash Player 10 and Adobe AIR to work on ARM-powered devices. The optimization specifically focuses on the ARM11 family, which just so happens to be what powers our iPhones.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has in the past expressed interest in getting Microsoft Silverlight, their own take on an Adobe Flash developing framework, on the iPhone, but at the time he said he hadn't discussed it with Apple so he didn't have many details to go in to. Now Microsoft is back and while they're making a concerted effort to get it on Google's Android platform, Silverlight on iPhone is becoming less and less likely.

Adobe has stated in the past that they intended to port Flash over to the iPhone, but Apple has continued to stand in their way, and for a while we had thought they had given up. As it turns out, they didn't, and have now revealed that Flash for the iPhone is nearly ready and waiting for Apple to give the 'OK'.