The iPhone 3G is really starting to prove to be a headache for Apple. Especially now that the ASA in the UK has upheld a complaint stating the iPhone 3G was advertised with misleading information.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said the combined phone, music player and computer is flawed because of the absence of two common website programmes, Flash and Java.

As a result, the ASA said Apple’s claim that the iPhone gave access to ‘all parts of the internet’ misled customers about its power as a web browser.

iPhone users cannot access the graphics, videos and games on many websites, including the BBC’s, because of the absence of Flash.

Java’s absence deprives users a series of short-cuts, typically on order forms such as the copying of a credit card address into the home delivery box.

Apple misled iPhone users over web access, says watchdog – NZ Herald

I’m probably more likely to take exception to this issue because I know the limitations of most mobile devices at the present time. That is primarily a result of being part of the technology world for so long that I have a pretty fair idea of what to expect.

Having said that, I have Flash-Lite on my Nokia E90 cellphone that allows me to use quite a number of flash websites (including YouTube) that I cannot use from my iPod Touch with Safari. And its been made pretty common knowledge in the past that Apple’s SDK license does not allow for things like Flash or Java on their device. In fact, they explicitly stated not too long ago (can’t find the link right now, will look later) that they do not want those platforms on there because they would allow people to use applications over which Apple has no control.

So why is it someone like Nokia allows me to install Python on my cellphone and run Python applications? In fact, a number of apps on my phone are Python based. I can also run and use Flash applications and a large number of flash websites. And any phone without Java just seems like a completely foolish thing in this day and age. Of course, Nokia has been building phones with Java so long that even my old Nokia 7650 included a still-very-capable J2ME platform. In fact, I think my old 6310 could handle basic java applications. Even the freebie phones you can get all over the place now also include a full J2ME implementation at least.

The difference is, of course, the App Store.

When you build a product that then starts to do a daily revenue of $1,000,000, of which 30% is yours to keep, you don’t want to do anything that might allow that market to be slowed in any way if you can avoid it.

Of course, whether Apple likes it or not, Sun Microsystems is very determined to get a JRE on the iPhone.

So should Apple just accept that its going to happen and let it happen? Or do you think they can face off even more grievances from people who expected the marketing hype was real and they could use the Internet on their iPhone much the same as they can on their computer?

Or should the whingers just shut up and jailbreak their phones to run the massive amounts of software available from the Installer.app? ;-)