Verizon to Ship Phones with Flash

Verizon Wireless will become the first mobile operator in the United States to include Adobe's Flash animation software on its phones, thanks to a deal signed between the companies Wednesday. The idea is to give customers more options for viewing graphics on a small screen.

Adobe first detailed its plan to expand Flash to mobile devices when it purchased Macromedia for $3.4 billion last year. The company already ships Flash on phones in Japan, but the United States could prove a big market for the technology, analysts say. Flash is commonly used for Web graphics, animations and even video.