Adobe has officially launched the public beta release of Flash Player 10.1 on Android-based devices - its answer, it hopes, to the disdain that Apple CEO Steve Jobs has towards Flash. Changes to the application include power and battery optimizations, maximimizing performance, conserving memory, and usability and interactivity, writes Paul Betlem, senior director of Flash Player Engineering, in the company's blog.

Interested in testing it yourself? As soon as Google releases its update to the Android OS, code-named "FroYo", users will be able to get the new Flash Player installed over the air from the Android Market, Betlem said. Meanwhile, Adobe sent a handful of smartphone journalists Google Nexus One devices with Froyo and Flash Player 10.1 loaded. According to their reviews, Adobe’s upgrade does answer many of the issues related to Flash - but not all of them.

Flash basically works, writes PC Magazine, finally bringing the full Web to smartphones.  Among the advantages to the upgrade is the long-awaited chance to play online Flash-based games and stream video directly from the browser, CNET said. "For wannabe-foodies like us, Adobe's player also finally makes it possible to view restaurant menus from sites written for Flash."

And for marketers there is this: "While nobody likes online ads… you can soon view them in all their shifting, eye-catching glory."

There are still bugs, though, PC Magazine said. "Just adding Flash to phones doesn't magically make all Flash sites work. Business concerns and control schemes mean that some sites are going to have to change to work properly in the mobile space."