Following iPhone Flash Snub, Windows Mobile Licenses Flash Lite

Now on board

Adobe announced yesterday that Microsoft has licensed Flash Lite and Reader LE for the Windows Mobile OS.

Flash Lite was available as a download for Windows Mobile, but it will soon be incorporated into the OS. Flash Lite is already installed on 500 million devices worldwide.

Ars Technica thinks Microsoft hopes to snare Apple marketshare in the mobile market. The iPhone has been criticized for not having Flash support.

The deal comes weeks after Steve Jobs ruled Flash an inadequate addition to the iPhone.

Microsoft also plans to unveil its own Flash competitor, Silverlight, on mobile phones this year. Silverlight is slated to appear in Nokia's Symbian OS, according to the BBC.

As for licensing Silverlight's main competitor, Microsoft's Derek Snyder told CNET that Flash is something people have already invested in, and it's "good to have both."