At this week's Flash on the Beach (FOTB) conference, an Adobe Sr. Director of Engineering Paul Betlem said that his company was indeed developing a Flash Player for the iPhone. It is up to Apple as to when (or even if) the application makes it into iPhone users' hands, however.

This is good news for those of us who were disappointed when the iPhone 3G didn't ship with Flash capablity. Flash is important because the technology is the most widely used way for delivering animations, videos (YouTube, anybody) and interactive applications on the Web. So, while Safari mobile offers a great Internet experience, without Flash it is a far from comprehensive.

In March, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen confirmed that his company was in the process of developing a version of the Flash media player for the iPhone, without – it seemed - the direct input of Apple. This is likely still the case.

Narayen said Adobe downloaded the software development kit (SDK) for creating third-party applications for the iPhone to build a iPhone and iPod touch-friendly Flash client.

It appears they've pretty much succeeded in this effort. Now it's up to Apple to step up and let Adobe deliver it to consumers.