Adobe Flash CS5 supports 'exporting' native iPhone apps

Adobe's Flash Professional CS5 is expected to be released as a public beta later this year. One unexpected capability of this software: It allows developers to create Flash applications and "export" the Flash programs as native iPhone apps.

What the Adobe team has done is astounding--they have basically put together a new compiler that "understands ActionScript 3 and use its existing ARM back end to output native ARM assembly code." The advantage, according to Adobe senior product manager Aditya Bansod, is that developers can now "create applications using their Flash skills and their knowledge of ActionScript 3"

Limitations exist of course, such as the inability to load another Flash file from within these export apps. With the number of applications on the App Store expected to surpass 100,000 before the end of the year however, it is somewhat hard to imagine existing developers will be happy about the additional influx of games in the already saturated market.

For more on this story:
- check out this article at InformationWeek
- check out this article at Adobe blog

Related Articles:
Businesses tapping iPhone apps to drive sales
iPhone App Store downloads surpass 2-billion mark
Enterprise-oriented app market growing, but still no store