HTC's Hero Phone: The First Android Device to Run Flash

by Sam Dean - Jun. 25, 2009Comments (0)

Yesterday, we covered the announcement of HTC's Hero smartphone with its slick, customizable new HTC Sense interface. The phone runs the open source Android operating system, and is a thin touch phone with no physical keyboard. Now, Adobe has announced that it is working with HTC to make sure that the Hero can run Flash. That means that the many Flash elements and components on the web will run smoothly on the Hero, users will be able to watch YouTube and many other videos and video shows, and more.

Adobe's commitment to working with HTC on Flash for the Hero phone is yet another sign that significant technology players are taking Android seriously as a mobile platform. Adobe is aiming to increase the presence of Flash on smartphones. According to Adobe, over 80 percent of all videos delivered online are based on Flash technology.

Initially, the Hero will enable video playback with Flash, but won't have all the capabilities of Flash 10, which runs on PCs now, and can run ActionScript 3. The Hero will run ActionScript 2 applications, but Adobe's David Wadhwani, vice president and general manager of the Platform Business Unit, says the move "presents an important step towards full Web browsing with Flash Player 10 on mobile phones in the future."

You can find a video demonstration of Flash working on the Hero phone here. The Hero will be available in Europe in July and in Asia later this summer. A North American version will be out later this year.

 


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