Adobe Finally Finds Way Into iPhone, iPad: Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), maker of the Flash media platform used for multiple media types online and most famously as the video format of choice used by Google‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) YouTube, has long been an outcast on Apple‘s (NASDAQ:AAPL) popular portables. Former CEO Steve Jobs openly knocked the platform at numerous product announcement events for both the iPhone and iPad, insisting that Apple’s devices were more suited to a future when media like video are built directly into websites through HTML5. On Thursday, though, Adobe announced the new Flash Media Server version 4.5 tool and, according to Computerworld (via Mac Rumors), the server will be able to stream Flash content to iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad without those devices needing to run the actual Flash application at all. The short version: Flash will work on iOS without actually running Flash. Good news for advertising partners, video websites and game developers alike.
HTC Brings webOS For a Second Round with Apple: It looks like HTC also might be looking to gain control of its own mobile operating system and selection of apps rather than leave itself open to the widespread litigation plaguing the makers of Android-based smartphones and tablets. According to an interview in Focus Taiwan (via Apple Insider), HTC chairwoman Cher Wang has said her company is considering purchasing the Palm-made webOS platform from Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ). Palm and the webOS platform were purchased by HP in April 2010 for $1.2 billion. The flagship device for webOS 3.0, the TouchPad tablet PC, had a tumultuous summer, first performing so badly at retail that HP announced it would depart the mobile industry before selling out as a cheap cult hit at retailers.
Ich Bin Ein Apple Store: That’s what Apple’s retail operation will say this weekend when it opens its seventh store in Germany. The new two-story Jungfernstieg store will open in Hamburg on Saturday. Apple tightened its grip on the high-end mobile market in Germany last Friday when a German court upheld an Apple filed injunction that will block the sale of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet PC from sale in the country.
As of this writing, Anthony John Agnello did not own a position in any of the stocks named here. Follow him on Twitter at @ajohnagnello and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook.
