At a recent seminar a put on by Figleaf Software, a close partner of Macromedia, it was revealed the Macromedia had developed a version of the Flash Player for the Palm OS, but it was too slow to be usable on the current crop of 33 MHz processors that are in just about all Palm OS devices. However, the project hasn’t been totally dropped. When Palm OS handhelds with faster processor are available, Macromedia will release it.
This could be the 66 MHz Dragonball processor that is now available in enough quantities to be included in a handheld, though no company has announced one that uses it.
The performance should be even better when handhelds running Palm OS 5 on ARM-based chips are released later this year. OS 5 will be capable of running most software designed for earlier operating systems.
A Macromedia spokesperson wasn’t willing to confirm this information. She would only say, “We are actively speaking to leading device manufacturers regarding support for [Flash] player… future platform support will be announced as they become available.”