RIM Pledges Continued Development of Flash Player for PlayBook

Research in Motion this week pledged to continue developing Adobe Flash for its BlackBerry PlayBook despite Adobe's decision to ditch Flash for the mobile Web.

"As an Adobe source code licensee, we will continue to work on and release our own implementations, and are looking forward to including Flash 11.1 for the BlackBerry PlayBook," Dan Dodge, president and CEO of RIM's QNX division, wrote in a blog post.

Adobe's decision "further validates RIM's decision to launch the BlackBerry PlayBook with a full-powered and uncompromised desktop class browser supporting both Flash and HTML5," Dodge continued. "We are pleased that Adobe will focus its efforts on next generation Flash-based apps delivered via AIR and BlackBerry App World as well as the great opportunities that HTML5 presents for our developers as we discussed at DevCon Americas."

Yesterday, Adobe confirmed that it will no longer develop Flash for mobile devices after its next release and instead focus on HTML5 and AIR apps. The company will, however, continue to provide "critical bug fixes and security updates" for existing devices running the software—like the BlackBerry PlayBook and Android devices.

RIM touted the PlayBook's ability to support HTML5 and Flash. "RIM has the ability to continue working on and releasing its own implementations of Flash Player 11 and beyond," Danny Winokur, vice president and general manager of Interactive Development at Adobe, said in a statement.

Working with HTML5 "means working with thousands of talented BlackBerry developers to bring new gaming, entertainment, and video experiences that deliver depths of experience we had only dreamed of a few years ago," Dodge wrote.

In a separate post directed toward developers, Alec Saunders, RIM's vice president of developer relations, said he wanted them to know that "RIM will continue to support developers who have built Adobe Flash-based apps on our platform."

Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment about how the decision will affect Android.

For more, see Adobe Flash Meets Its End and No Flash Forwarding to HTML5.

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I started out covering tech policy in DC for The National Journal, where my beat included state-level tech news and all the congressional hearings and FCC meetings I could handle. I later covered Wall Street trading tech before switching gears to consumer tech. I now lead PCMag's news coverage.

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Getting my start in DC means I still have a soft spot for tech policy; Congressional hearings can sometimes be as entertaining as a Bravo reality show, for better or worse. But PCMag is all about the technology we use every day, as well as keeping an eye out for the trends that will shape the industry in the years ahead (or flop on arrival). I've covered the rise of social media, the iOS vs. Android wars, the cord-cutting revolution that's now left us with hefty streaming bills, and the effort to stuff artificial intelligence into every product you could imagine. This job has taken me to CES in Vegas (one too many times), IFA in Berlin, and MWC in Barcelona. I also drove a Tesla 1,000 miles out west as part of our Best Mobile Networks project. Of late, my focus is on our hard-working team of reporters at PCMag, guiding and editing their robust coverage.

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