Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Thursday said 200,000 applications are available in his company's mobile app store - and they all benefit because they're not built in Flash.

In a post on Apple's website, Jobs listed reasons none of those apps support Flash, a format that supports video, animation, games and other content and is made by tech competitor Adobe.

Some tech bloggers have criticized Apple for not supporting Flash on its mobile devices, including the iPad, iPhone and iPod. But Jobs said Adobe Flash is a format for the past.

Performance, not business strategy, guides Apple's decision not to use the format, he said.

"Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice," he wrote in the post. "Flash is a successful business for Adobe, and we can understand why they want to push it beyond PCs. But the mobile era is about low power devices, touch interfaces and open web standards – all areas where Flash falls short."

Adobe has complained its business "could be harmed" by Apple's decision not to use the format.

Jobs listed several specific reasons Apple doesn't use Flash. Some of the more interesting ones:

_ "iPhone, iPod and iPad users aren’t missing much video," he wrote.

_Apple products run more reliably without Flash: "Flash is the number one reason Macs crash."

_Flash isn't made for touch-screen devices: "... Many Flash websites rely on 'rollovers,' which pop up menus or other elements when the mouse arrow hovers over a specific spot." Apple's touch screens don't use rollovers.

_And, most important, Jobs said, is that Flash slows down app development: " We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers."

U.S. Apple Retail Stores to Close From 4-5 PM Tomorrow in Advance of iPad 3G Launch

Thursday April 29, 2010 11:38 PM EST
Written by Eric Slivka

As noted by 9 to 5 Mac, Apple will be closing each of its over 220 retail stores in the United States from 4:00-5:00 PM local time tomorrow to prepare for the launch of the iPad Wi-Fi + 3G. Even Apple's flagship Fifth Avenue store in Manhattan, typically open 24 hours a day, will close for preparations.

The store will be closed from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 30, to prepare for the arrival of iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G.
Customers who pre-ordered their 3G-capable models prior to April 19th have seen their orders shipping for delivery tomorrow.

iPad 3G denies ABC player, downsamples iTunes store video previews over AT&T
Posted Apr 30th 2010 7:07PM by Ross Miller

Well ain't that a kick in the pants. Reports are coming in from newly-minted iPad 3G videophiles that iTunes store previews and Netflix streams are getting downsampled over AT&T's network. The folks at iLounge have been tinkering enough to confirm the iTunes issue (we're still waiting for FedEx to drop off our 3G tablets so we can corroborate ourselves) and, lo and behold, ABC player flat out refuses to work over AT&T's 3G network, instead displaying an oddly familiar message: "Please connect to a Wi-Fi network to use this application. Cellular networks are not supported at this time." Perhaps an update will ensue to fix such limits, but in the meantime, we're sure at least someone at Sling HQ is having an awkward chuckle.