There are several issues you need to take into account regarding Flash Lite version history. There are different versions of the Flash Lite environment that are supported by a different set of mobile devices. Each Flash Lite version is based on a certain desktop Flash Player (see the following table).
The major Flash Lite versions are 1.1, 2.0 / 2.1, 3.0, and 3.1, with significant updates on every new release. Support for Flash Lite 2.0 / 2.1 and 3.0 on modern mobile devices is common nowadays. Nokia has been including preinstalled versions of the Flash Lite Player on devices since S60 3rd Edition and Series 40 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1. On Series 40 devices and S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 and newer S60 devices, the Flash Lite Player is a hidden application that allows users to play Flash Lite content directly from the file system.
To find out which mobile devices support which Flash Lite version, see the list of Flash-enabled devices at the Flash Devices Web site or Device Specifications at Forum Nokia. On selected S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2 and S60 5th Edition Nokia devices, users can update the preinstalled Flash Lite Player through Software Update for S60 in much the same way as the Flash Player can be updated in the desktop environment.
Note: The Flash Lite Player installed on Nokia devices differs from the reference Adobe Flash Lite Player in that the Nokia Flash Lite Player is optimized for Nokia devices.
Note: Depending on the operator and region, some mobile devices may ship with a different version of the Flash Lite Player or not include a Flash Lite Player at all. The two device lists above refer to baseline device specifications.
An important difference between the Flash Lite versions is that Flash Lite 1.1 supports only ActionScript 1.0, while Flash Lite 2.0 through Flash Lite 3.1 support ActionScript 2.0. ActionScript 2.0 allows a more flexible object-oriented programming approach, such as using classes, interfaces, and external code files. It is therefore better equipped for more complex applications.
Flash Lite and ActionScript are backwards-compatible. This means that applications created with Flash Lite 1.1 using ActionScript 1.0 can be run in newer Flash-Lite-equipped devices. The reverse, however, is not always possible.
The following table summarizes the major updates in each Flash Lite version.
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Flash Lite 1.1 |
Flash Lite 2.0 / 2.1 |
Flash Lite 3.0 |
Flash Lite 3.1 |
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For an in-depth comparison of different Flash Lite versions, see the Flash Lite feature comparison at the Adobe Web site.
For information about Flash Lite support in the Web Browser for S60, see section Flash Lite in the Web Browser for S60.
For more information about the audio and video capabilities of Flash Lite, see section Media playback.
The current Flash authoring tool release is Adobe Flash CS4 Professional, which can be regarded as Flash version 10.
Flash Lite support has been included in Adobe's Flash authoring tools since Flash MX Professional 2004 (Flash version 7), first as an additional Content Development Kit (CDK) and later as a fully integrated component. The newer Adobe Flash IDE versions support Flash Lite by default and can be extended to include newer Flash Lite versions with additional plug-ins.
For the purposes of this document, it is assumed that you are using Flash Professional 8 or Adobe Flash CS3 Professional or newer.
Adobe also provides standalone Flash Lite Players to allow developers to test their software on mobile devices that do not necessarily have the required versions of Flash Lite preinstalled. These players can be downloaded from the Adobe Web site:
Flash Lite 2.1 Standalone Player for Symbian Devices (requires registration)