At its MAX developer conference in Los Angeles on Monday, Abode announced its decision to launch mobile versions of its Flash platform for a number of mobile browsers - including the Microsoft Windows Mobile, the Palm webOS and the Google Android - via the forthcoming edition of its Creative Suite developer tools.

Abode specified that the new tools, the public beta of which will be released later this year followed by the final version next year, will run on Windows and Mac PCs.

The tools will allow Flash application developers to sell their programs as standalone apps through the iPhone's App Store. However, the tools will not resolve the biggest Flash problem faced by iPhone users - that is, lack of Flash support in the smartphone's Web browser, leading to massive blank spaces in some Web pages.

Noting that Adobe's added support to its Flash Professional CS5 developer kit would essentially translate software written in Flash into individual iPhone applications, Anup Murarka - Adobe's Director of Technical Marketing for Mobile and Devices - said: "All we're doing is enabling output from our tools to a native iPhone app."

Murarke further elaborated: "We're not trying to invent completely new features on the Flash side that would otherwise be specific to the iPhone. This is really about bridging the gap, enabling developers to deliver their first set of iPhone apps."