Adobe hints Google TV to lose Flash as well

Adobe has followed up its cancellation of mobile Flash with a statement extending that end to TVs as well. The company would continue to give support to those using the Porting Kit to convert Flash to apps on TV, but it told GigaOM that it would press hardware makers to build native apps instead. It went so far as to indirectly suggest that Google TV had been taking the wrong route with its focus on the web until the Google TV 2.0 update.

"We believe the right approach to deliver content on televisions is through applications, not a web browsing experience, and we will continue to encourage the device and content publishing community down that path," Adobe said.

Flash hasn't had much sway in the TV space and was only recently launched on LG TVs. Almost all of its presence to date has been on Google TV and leaves it as the platform most affected by Adobe's choice. Google made Flash nearly its only focus in the first revision of Google TV and, after 2.0, will have to either work on a custom implementation or cease using it entirely. The new Google TV significantly downplays the Flash-based web and relies on native apps for a more optimized experience.

The decision won't affect the Boxee Box, whose use of desktop-level Flash should let it keep showing TV through the web.

By Electronista Staff