Browsing for a tablet PC to run Flash

published 26 May 2010

It's like magic. One day it's there and the next day it's gone.

I am, of course. describing the amazing disappearing Internet Explorer icon which vanishes following a Windows update. I can only imagine how much confusion that trick has caused the casual computer user who probably relies on the built-in web browser and doesn't care a jot who it's developed by or why.

But it has gone, with relatively little fan fare. It's been replaced with an icon asking you to select a browser. Of course, I expect many users will reselect the little blue explorer icon and manually pin it back to the taskbar and start menu and put it down to 'one of those politics things' but I wonder how much money, time and effort has been wasted in the process?

We are still debating whether to get an Apple iPad, but the tie in for the development costs is putting us off a little, especially as we really want to concentrate on ActionScript development for the present time and have invested a lot of time and effort into it so far.

We spent some time with the Toshiba JournE tablet, which is Windows CE based. Sadly that doesn't support Flash either at present. We're living in hope that the rumoured Android-based tablet will support Flash though.

Surprisingly enough - as I type this very article an email pops up saying "Adobe Flash. Available Now on Mobile Android Devices." - go figure!

There is much hype around Apple's iPad tablet, which launches later this week in the UK. Apple-friendly celebrity Stephen Fry is even launching his own applications for the device.

Talking about Apple-based applications it's a surprise that no one has yet challenged the built-in browser, Safari, on the mobile device range. One can only wonder if users are going to wake up one morning to discover it's been removed and replaced with a 'Choose Your Browser' application too. You could bet for sure that if it was a Microsoft iPad being released there would be a massive furore but the media do seem surprisingly quiet about it. Thus far, at least.

Jason Slater is a columnist for IT PRO and has just set up his own company.

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