Adobe Releases New Flash for Android–with Caveats

It took all day Friday to make it live, but Adobe released a new Android version of its Flash Player, albeit with a few asterisks attached.

The company had said the software would be coming on Friday.

First, as expected, the new software is only a beta for tablets running Honeycomb and requires the Froyo or Gingerbread releases of Android to work on phones. As for the tablet version, Adobe said it is still working on various optimizations to allow it to better handle high-definition video and running in other than full-screen mode.

“These optimizations are expected to provide a better ‘embedded’ in-browser experience, comparable to the full screen experience with this beta, and to also provide improved playback of many 720p high definition videos (including full screen),” Adobe said in a blog post. “In the meantime, the best way to experience the performance potential of this beta and to enjoy an immersive Flash content experience is to view Flash content full screen.”

To work on Honecomb tablets, such as the Xoom, Flash requires an update to Android, version 3.0.1, also included with Flash.