One feature that is strikingly missing in the newly-unveiled Apple iPad is the support for Abode Flash - one of the world’s most ubiquitous multimedia software, present in almost 98 percent of all computers.

The iPad’s apparent lack of Flash support was obvious at the unveiling of the device at Apple’s Wednesday media event. During the course of demonstrations of the iPad by Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs, Web designers and most of the Web users noticed the glaring ‘blank squares’ at those places on the Web sites where video or animated content would otherwise have been displayed.

However, though the Abode Flash technology reportedly supports nearly all of Apple’s desktops and laptops, the iPad is not the only Apple device that has given the Flash a miss – even the highly popular Apple iPhone does not feature the technology.

Apple’s support for Flash is dwindling largely because, as per the company, the Flash technology is exceedingly slow; causes excessive strain on laptops and netbooks; consumes a lot of battery life; and vulnerable to viruses and other malware.

The iPad’s lack of Flash support is somewhat compensated by HTML5 – a new experimental video format that works directly in a Web browser; and will offer the iPhone and iPad users more Web-based video content. Apple actually is part of the group that owns the patents surrounding the HTML5 format.