We’ve heard for a while that Flash Player will be coming to webOS.  We had heard that it would be arriving this year.  Now, Adobe reveals their plan for Flash Player 10.1.  Read on for more about Flash Player 10.1 and a demo video showing it running on a Palm Pre.

According to the press release:

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today unveiled Adobe® Flash® Player 10.1 software for smartphones, smartbooks, netbooks, PCs and other Internet-connected devices, allowing content created using the Adobe Flash Platform to reach users wherever they are. A public developer beta of the browser-based runtime is expected to be available for Windows® Mobile, Palm® webOS and desktop operating systems including Windows, Macintosh and Linux later this year. Public betas for Google® Android™ and Symbian® OS are expected to be available in early 2010. In addition, Adobe and RIM announced a joint collaboration to bring Flash Player to Blackberry® smartphones, and Google joined close to 50 other industry players in the Open Screen Project initiative.

The upshot is that the new version of Flash Player will provide a consistent experience across PCs and mobile devices.  What does this mean for the Palm Pre and Pixi?  It means that those portions of the Web that were previously closed off will now be open.  It also means access to tens of thousands of existing Flash applications.  It also gives programmers another option for app development.

Many people have wondered about the built-in GPU the Pre and Pixi have.  When would we have something that would take advantage of it?  There was some speculation about WebGL.  However, it seems Flash will take advantage of it first:

The browser-based runtime leverages the power of the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) for accelerated video and graphics while conserving battery life and minimizing resource utilization. New mobile-ready features that take advantage of native device capabilities include support for multi-touch, gestures, mobile input models, accelerometer and screen orientation bringing unprecedented creative control and expressiveness to the mobile browsing experience.

The Flash Player 10.1 site also includes this tantalizing demo video (as seen above).  The only question after seeing that is:  “When can I get it?”  According to Adobe, a beta version will be available later this year with a general release to take place in the first half of 2010.  If you can’t wait for the general release, there is a beta sign-up link on the Adobe site.  Note:  You’ll have to sign up for an Adobe account, which is free.

What do you think about Flash showing up on the Pre?  Sound off in our comments below.

Update: Embedded video.