CNET’s Bonnie Cha reported yesterday that Adobe’s Flash Player 10 beta build will become part of several mobile device Web browsers this fall. Among the browsers are Google Android, Windows Mobile, WebOS and Symbian’s browser. Notice anything about that list? It doesn’t include one of the most popular choices in the smartphone market today: the iPhone. More on that later.

One of the big selling points for smartphones is that they allow people to access the Web while on the go. But as Web pages become more complex, you need a more robust browser to access content. Many Web designers incorporate Flash into their Web sites. If you don’t have a Flash player installed in your browser, you can’t look at and interact with this content. On my Google Android phone, I only see a cube with question marks on each side when I visit Flash-enabled sites. Some Web sites have mobile versions of their content that I can access instead but it’s never as comprehensive as the full site.

Flash Player 10 will allow smartphone users to view these sites. You’ll be able to see and manipulate Flash objects just as if you were viewing the page from a desktop browser on your PC or Mac. That is, you’ll be able to do it if you aren’t using an iPhone. Here’s a video showing Flash running on the Android operating system.

So what’s up with Apple? Adobe representatives say they are ready and willing to work with Apple to bring Flash to the iPhone. But according these representatives, Apple wants to move at its own pace. This shouldn’t come as a suprise to anyone who follows Apple — the company is infamous for doing things its own way. On the one hand, this approach is admirable: Apple wants to guarantee that the user experience falls in line with the company’s design principles and philosophy. On the other hand, it’s incredibly frustrating. Loyal Apple customers may feel like they are being punished for sticking with a company that’s slow to adopt features that other smartphones have had for years (need I say the words cut and paste?).

Adobe representatives say that Flash will come to the iPhone eventually. It will just get there according to the desires of Apple executives. But by now you Apple fans are used to waiting, right? So that shouldn’t be a big deal…

I hope the time passes quickly for all iPhone owners. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to playing with Flash on my G1.

Learn more about smartphones and snarky attitudes at HowStuffWorks.com:

How the iPhone Works
How the Google Phone Works
How Smartphones Work
How Web Animation Works
How Sarcasm Works