Adobe (NASDAQ: ADBE) appeared to say "Uncle" this week in its on-going battle with Apple over Flash support when it announced, Flash Media Server 4.5, which it claims will provide a way to play Flash on iOS devices.

As Adobe explained in a press release, this provides a way to build a single workflow that works with either Flash-enabled devices or Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS devices, which obviously don't support Flash.

Jonny Evans writing in Computerworld explained this is because Adobe is now offloading most of the work from the device itself to the server, and therefore (at least in theory) bypassing Steve Jobs' criticisms that Flash bogs down mobile devices. It appears that with this change Adobe is acknowledging that criticism, and providing a way to keep Flash relevant even as HTML5 gains greater use.

In fact, Adobe customer, Ben Rolling, vice president of development for AEG Digital Media said in a statement that it was precisely this stability that was so attractive about this offering. "Adobe Flash Media Server 4.5 improves the stability of our video streams, decreases load times, and helps us better manage encoding and bitrates for an improved end-user experience on mobile devices and online," he said.

As for iOS users, it provides a way to access websites using Flash, which currently won't work and can be a source of annoyance. As Evans points out in his post, however, Flash still won't work on Apple devices until companies start rolling out Flash Media Server 4.5.

Adobe made the announcement at the IBC Conference and Exhibition last week in Amsterdam.

For more information:
- see the Adobe press release

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