Archive for May, 2009

Nokia 5800 updates to Flash Lite 3.1

Posted by Mark Doherty in Devices, Flash Lite on May 29, 2009

As some of you have noticed Nokia have begun the process of updating the Flash Lite 3.0 player to our latest version Flash Lite 3.1. There are a number of benefits with this update but in all this brings the Nokia 5800 all the way up to Flash 9 support (AS2 only), some features are outlined below:

  • Flash Lite 3.1 builds on our support for web browsability
  • 92% of the top 500 sites (plus a few strategic ones)
  • HTML Text coloring, <img> tag support in text fields
  • Streaming audio support
  • Much more memory
  • It adds new support for hardware acceleration for graphics (hardware dependant)
  • Bitmap data is also now exposed
  • Security Model and obviously version, is now aligned with the Distributable Player
  • Various bug fixes to enhance extensions for packaged applications

This update is a huge step forward because it signifies the beginning of Open Screen Project commitments to keep the Flash Player up-to-date.  It’s also the first time that this has been tried out from an OEM and so there were a few glitches, notably:

  • SetSoftKey FSCommand support broke
  • The Flash version string included a new character “AFL” instead of “FL”
  • Security Model wasn’t entirely fixed

In all for all the features added I think that this isn’t so bad, and I can say that Nokia will update FL3.1 and release this new version soon.  So if you were in the Day1 gold rush then I suggest hitting update in a week or so.

*NEW – More soon on this*

  • Flash Lite 3.1 also provides support for Flash Remoting
  • HTTPS and AMF support

As for the Flash Remoting features I’m wildly excited about this, and I’m working to produce a simple demo.

Update: Unfortunately Remoting doesn’t work on S60 :-( however I’m informed that this should work on WM6 devices, so feel free to give it a try!

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9 Comments

Flash Lite Developer Challenge – 4 Days to go!

Posted by Mark Doherty in Flash Lite, Industry News, Mobile Content on May 26, 2009

flashlitedeveloperchallenge

The Flash Lite Developer Challenge is closing in 4 days 7 Hours, so I hope you’re finalising your submissions.  Remember that we’re looking for a number of different things including innovation, user experience, commercial viability and best use of Flash Lite features.

I can’t wait to see the entries :-)

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Kirk uses Flash too..

Posted by Mark Doherty in on May 20, 2009

Lee posted recently that the new Star Trek movie by JJ Abram’s is packed with Flash user interfaces. In fact the company OOOii used Flash on the bridge of the Enterprise along with Adobe After Effects to bring the scenes to life.

The team have recorded a video to talk about their experiences and their use of Adobe AIR to create a tool that enabled them to quickly pull together common UI elements for use across the various starship sets.

Flash on a starship, now that’s multi-screen :-)

Check out Lee’s blog post.

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Distributable Player Update – 13 countries, 31 devices

Posted by Mark Doherty in , Devices, Distributable Player Solution, Flash Lite, Industry News on May 20, 2009

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I have some great news on our Distributable Player availability and our plans to scale the solution.  For the past couple of weeks I’ve been working with some of you to test the download of Flash Lite 3.1 over-the-air in your home countries.  That process has gone pretty well and collectively we’re confident that our solution can now scale quickly, we plan to add countries in batches of eight on a monthly basis.

We have added support for the player download in the following countries (I tried to enable the Flash version of this but WordPress is having none of it):

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We’ve also been working hard on device certification and accelerating that program by adding the most popular S60 and Windows Mobile devices.  The list is now 31 strong and will grow continually at speed.

S60 Devices

  1. Nokia N78
  2. Nokia E65
  3. Nokia N95 8GB
  4. Nokia N95
  5. Nokia N73
  6. Nokia N81
  7. Nokia 6120 Classic
  8. Nokia E51
  9. Nokia N81 8GB
  10. Nokia E71
  11. Nokia N96
  12. Nokia N82

Windows Mobile Devices

  1. HTC-Pro S621(Same as T-Mobile Dash)
  2. HTC S740
  3. HTC Touch Cruise P3650
  4. HTC Touch Diamond
  5. HTC Touch P3452
  6. HTC TyTN II P4551
  7. Motorola Q
  8. Motorola Q9c
  9. Motorola Q9h (CDMA)
  10. Motorola Q9m
  11. Motorola Q Norman (same as Moto Q 9h(GSM))
  12. Palm Treo 700w
  13. Palm Treo 750
  14. Palm Treo Pro
  15. Samsung SGH-i607 BlackJack I
  16. Samsung SGH-i617 BlackJack II
  17. Samsung SGH-i780
  18. T-Mobile Shadow
  19. T-Mobile Wing

The Mobile Packager 1.1 release is now out on private pre-release with a few select developers to get some feedback before launch.  Last week the reigning packaging queen Liz Myers signed her first SIS and CAB files using the new tool.

Exciting times!

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20m Windows Mobile devices shipped

Posted by Mark Doherty in on May 19, 2009

Yesterday I heard an interesting fact that I thought I’d share. So in 2008 Samsung, LG and a few others shipped 20 million Windows Mobile devices around the world.  80% of these had touch screens instead of standard keypads, and so for development ongoing it’s looking less important to handle devices with keypads.

Saying that, the majority of the installed base of Windows Mobile users from 2006/2007 are still happily using their QWERTY devices like the Samsung BlackJack.  So the net of the story is, the future is touch enabled, but if you want to enable reach over relevance then you’ll need two Flash applications.

The same story will apply to other platforms in the future.

3 Comments