We’ve already seen Flash running on the Nexus One, but apparently other devices running anything less than Android 2.1 won’t support it. Call it a hardware bottleneck, but the droid and Nexus One are the only devices out there presently that will run Flash 10.1. Along with Android, Windows Mobile and webOS plug-ins will be available in the first half of this year, likely with BlackBerry not too far behind.
If the limitation is strictly software-based, then it won’t be all lost – upcoming devices like the X10, which are launching with Android 1.6, will likely be able to upgrade to 2.1, and potentially support Flash. I’m not seeing where Adobe made the announcement of this limitation to 2.1, but in the same breath, they also forecasted that over half of smartphones will be packing Flash by 2012. Now, who wants to take bets that the iPhone will get it by then?