Microsoft licenses Flash and PDF for Windows Mobile

The moles had already let the cat out of the bag over the weekend and now it's official. While Microsoft Silverlight is positioned as a competing product to Adobe's Flash/AIR, the Redmond company cannot get around Flash Player and Adobe Reader – at least for windows Mobile. Microsoft has licensed both Flash Lite 3.x and Adobe Reader LE mobile PDF viewer as a plug-ins for Internet Explorer Mobile.

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While Flash Lite 3 does not support all of the functions that Flash Player 9 does, Microsoft apparently finds it indispensable for mobile internet. Thanks to Flash Lite and Reader LE, Windows Mobile users can make better use of many of their favourite websites on the go, according to John O'Rourke, Microsoft's general manager for its mobile communications business. Microsoft wants to make both products accessible as quickly as possible to all OEM manufacturers of Windows Mobile devices. Adobe did not waste any time and issued a press release celebrating a half-million delivered products with Flash Lite, due in part to the Microsoft deal.

iPhone users, on the other hand, will have to wait for Flash support. For Apple boss Steve Jobs, the stripped down Flash Lite is out of the question.

(trk)