Adobe Announces New Flash Lite Distributable Player

BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At the GSMA Mobile World Congress, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced the availability of the Adobe® Flash® Lite™ 3.1 Distributable Player, a new, over-the-air mobile runtime. The new player enables developers and content providers to create Flash technology-based applications that target the latest version of the runtime, and directly distribute their applications with the runtime installer to millions of open OS devices for a better on-device user experience. Available immediately as a public beta, the Distributable Player initially supports Nokia S60 and Windows® Mobile devices and builds on the momentum Adobe Flash technology has experienced in the mobile market.

“With this new runtime and Adobe’s popular authoring tools, Adobe Flash Platform developers can unleash their creativity, develop new, innovative games and other mobile applications, and reach a much broader audience across screens and different platforms.”

The Adobe Flash Lite 3.1 Distributable Player provides new delivery and monetization options for Flash technology-based mobile applications. Using the new runtime, leading aggregators — including GetJar, Thumbplay and Zed — enable content creators to deliver their applications to mobile users via their Web catalogs. Content creators can also choose to distribute their applications via their own promotional vehicles or their existing distribution channels. Brands and content providers already using the Distributable Player include Accuweather, Dolce & Gabbana, Digital Chocolate, Disney, Finetune, Gazzetta dello Sport, Hachette Filipacchi, Il Sole 24 Ore, Il Corriere della Sera, Nespresso, and Uclick (see separate quote sheet).

“The Distributable Player enables a direct distribution of our mobile player similar to the distribution model for Flash Player on the desktop,” said David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president, Platform Business Unit at Adobe. “With this new runtime and Adobe’s popular authoring tools, Adobe Flash Platform developers can unleash their creativity, develop new, innovative games and other mobile applications, and reach a much broader audience across screens and different platforms.”

The Distributable Player is the first step toward delivering a runtime that can be updated over the air, a vision set by the Open Screen Project. Announced in May 2008, the Open Screen Project is designed to deliver a consistent runtime environment across televisions, desktops, mobile devices and other consumer electronics. Led by Adobe, the initiative has more than 20 major industry partners working to enable the delivery of Web content and standalone applications across devices taking advantage of Adobe Flash Platform capabilities.

Availability and Developer Contest

The Distributable Player supports over-the-air downloads for consumers in the United States, U.K., Spain, Italy and India. More countries will be added over time. Developers around the world can get started developing Adobe Flash Platform applications with the free public beta release at www.adobe.com/go/distribute/. The runtime is part of a solution that includes authoring support through Adobe Creative Suite® 4 and the Adobe Mobile Packager, a desktop tool allowing developers to wrap a SWF file into a Windows Mobile or Nokia S60 installable file.

In addition, Adobe and Nokia announced the Open Screen Project Fund today to spur the development of mobile applications based on the Flash Platform (see separate press release). Adobe is also sponsoring the Flash Lite Developer Challenge, a contest that will help fuel the development of compelling mobile applications. For more information, visit www.flashlitedeveloperchallenge.com.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated

Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.

© 2009 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Flash, Flash Lite and Creative Suite are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.