Adobe Surrenders in the Flash Wars

When the iPhone was released, Apple was castigated for one serious omission in their otherwise superlative web browser - THERE WAS NO FLASH PLAYER! Flash had been an important part of making the web more interactive. Surely, Steve Jobs wouldn't exclude this important technology, right? "Not so," pronounced Apple, "HTML5 could do everything Flash did, and better, with superior battery life for mobile devices." The critics grumbled, but consoled themselves that eventually Apple would come around. And competing mobile Operating Systems made "Flash support" a central part of their marketing campaigns.

Five years, five iPhones, and two iPads later, Apple still hasn't included Flash and yet remains the dominant player in the mobile space (although Android now ships more phones). And Adobe? Adobe has surrendered, ceasing all development of Flash for Mobile Browsers. Instead, they will focus all efforts on enabling developers to build Apps and deploy HTML5 solutions.

Palm steps up to the gallows

We all knew it was coming. The Palm Pre - while a stunning entry into the smartphone market - could not compete with the twin juggernauts of the Apple iPhone and Google Android. Palm, Inc. simply could not reverse a decade of complacency with a single great product. Now, the venerable father of the successful PDA is up for sale. Apple got there first with the Newton, but Palm put millions of PDAs into the hands of businessmen and changed portable computing. They will be missed.

Rumored buyers include HTC (maker of smartphones), Motorola, Nokia, and Apple.