Adobe is actively wooing publishers to adopt their Flash-based technology for the new digital magazine and newspaper formats, but will it be a standard if Apple’s mythical tablet doesn’t want to play along?

Two and a half years have gone by, and Adobe’s Flash technology still has yet to come to Apple’s wildy popular iPhone. 9to5Mac is ruminating on what this might mean to the “we don’t know if it exists, but it’s coming soon” tablet that Apple is rumored to be cooking up in Cupertino.

In recent weeks, publishers have been making vocal chants to assure their readers that they’ll be able to read their content on Apple’s tablet, including five major publishers joining forces to standardize on the new technology. Adobe isn’t sitting idle during this gestation period, announcing that more than 100 publishers, book retailers and libraries have adopted their Flash-based Content Server 4 software to protect PDF and EPUB e-book content.

Adobe is also promising to support the distribution of such e-books to thousands of retail stores, libraries and other channels across the globe, with nearly 20 manufacturers already committed to the Adobe Reader Mobile software development kit (or SDK).

“This furthers industry efforts to accelerate eBook standardization on the open EPUB eBook format,” Adobe explains, “enabling companies to create, deliver and monetize eBook content on smartphones and devices using Adobe’s eBook platform.”

With the battle lines now potentially drawn, it’s Apple’s next move -- will they adopt the Adobe Flash-based technology for the fabled tablet or snub it as they have on the iPhone thus far, perhaps in favor of something of their own design? Time will tell.