Nokia to embed Microsoft Silverlight technology: Service seen as a competitor to Adobe’s Flash

Nokia Corp. announced plans to embed Microsoft Corp.’s Silverlight technology on its handsets.
Similar to Flash, a rival technology from Adobe Systems Inc., Silverlight is a cross-browser, cross-platform plug-in for rich interactive Web-based applications. Nokia said it will make Silverlight available on Series 40 devices and Internet tablets as well as S60 handsets, which account for more than 50% of the smartphone market, according to analysts.
But while the deal is a substantial win for Microsoft, closing the gap with Flash would be a major accomplishment. Adobe claims 450 million devices have shipped with Flash Lite – a stripped-down version of its older sibling – and the technology’s presence in the United States has grown in the wake of Verizon Wireless’ decision last year to support the offering.
“This is an important relationship on so many levels,” said S. Somasegar, SVP of Microsoft’s Developer Division. “Working with Nokia means we are easily able to reach a huge number of mobile users, including customers of all S60 licenses. This is a significant step in gaining broad acceptance for Silverlight and ensuring it is platform agnostic.”