Apple Said Cooking Up Flash Alternative

Apple hasn't supported Flash in any of its mobile devices and now the tech blog AppleInsider is reporting that the company is readying its own alternative to Flash.

AppleInsider says that the technology, called Gianduia, was introduced by Apple last summer at its World of WebObjects Developer Conference. The technology is being described as "a client-side, standards-based framework for rich Internet apps." If true, this would represent another escalation in the growing friction between Apple and Adobe.

Last month Apple modified its iPhone Developer Licensing Agreement, effectively preventing developers from using technologies other than Apple's to develop applications. Shortly thereafter, Apple CEO Steve Jobs slammed Flash on a number of fronts. In an open letter, he said it was proprietary, a battery power hog, failed to support multitouch interfaces, presented security risks, and was unstable. Indeed, he claimed Flash was "the No. 1 reason Macs crash."

That touched off a subsequent controversy and reportedly has invited the attentions of government regulators.