US software-maker Adobe plans to drop some of the restrictions and licensing fees for its Flash video and animation software in a bid to encourage its adoption in mobile phone development. The company has joined forces with a series of mobile operators, handset vendors and chipset manufacturers to form what it calls the ‘Open Screen Project’ to promote Flash across multiple platforms and mobile handsets. Content providers, including BBC, MTV Networks and NBC Universal, are also involved.

According to the company, the mobile version of the technology – known as ‘Flash Lite’ – is available in around 500 million handsets currently but it plans to double this figure by next year. Adobe is hoping the technology will eventually be as ubiquitous on mobile handsets as it is in the PC market, where it claims to reach 98 percent of Internet-enabled desktops. However, one notable absentee from the Open Screen Project is Apple, which does not support Flash on its iPhone. According to Bloomberg, Apple has called for a third version of the technology to be developed that will sit between the PC version and Flash Lite, though Adobe declined to comment on the matter. Google – the firm behind the open-source ‘Android’ mobile platform – is also not involved. The report notes that the initiative could be a response to an increasing challenge by Microsoft, which recently announced a deal to put its rival video software, Silverlight, on Nokia smartphones.