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It seems that the ASA, a body responsible for advertising standards in the UK, has found and upheld a claim that Apple has been misleading with its current ad campaign which claims that “all the parts of the internet are on the iPhone”.

Whether you agree that Java and Flash specifically are parts of the Internet, I find this encouraging.

Apple has been claiming all sorts of holy grail status regarding iPhone web capabilities, but until the recent 2.0 firmware upgrade and 3G launch it wasn’t even possible to download and save a file unless a ‘hack’ was installed. This is a capability possible for years on some of the lowest end handsets out there, and the fact it wasnt possible on the iPhone has lead to confusion by both the users of the iPhone and those that try to create services accessible by wireless devices.

Flash and Java are just the tip of the iceberg with respect to what features taken for granted are not actually possible on the iPhone. They do expose two holes in the firewall Apple has put in place to prevent “unauthorized” 3rd party access to the device. If Apple allowed Flash and Java to run via the browser, then the App Store becomes less a gatekeeper for apps.

Is Apple likely to allow these features? Probably not soon, but at least we can avoid confusion in the meantime. It also allows other devices to market effectively against the iPhone by highlighting the features they allow compared to the iPhone and prevents Apple from hiding behind broad claims of supporting “all parts of the Internet”.