Punchkick Interactive cited in Mobile Web Design book by Cameron Moll
Cameron Moll has just finished and released his book, Mobile Web Design.
Much has been written about mobile devices. Plenty has been written about developing websites for the so-called “standards era” of the web. However, little has been written about the two colliding. This resource aims to fill that void.
As a reviewer of the book, and more specifically the Flash Lite section, I have had a chance to read through the entire book and it is really a great piece of writing. It is certainly not written for the mobile Web expert, but rather, it speaks perfectly to anyone in a position to develop for, manage, or give advice regarding your organizations foray into a web strategy for mobile devices.
PDF copies can be purchased for $19. Well worth it for anyone interested in the mobile space. You can also download a preview sample.
Via Bill, I recently learned that as of April 30 2007, 13 Flash Lite for BREW supported handsets represent 16 million active Verizon Wireless subscribers (reported by M:Metrics).
One of the many benefits with developing with Flash Lite is that you can target multiple devices with the same screen size using one FLA file. In the graphic below you can see how a developer would only need to create 3 FLA files to target all 13 supported Verizon Wireless handsets.
The phones that support the Flash Lite for BREW extension are: LG VX8100, LG VX8300, LG VX8500, LG VX8600, LG VX9800, LG VX9900, Motorola RAZR V3c, Motorola RAZR V3m, Motorola KRZR K1m, Samsung SCH-A930, Samsung SCH-A950, Samsung SCH-A970, and the Samsung SCH-A990.
Chumby specs and pricing information emerges
Via engadget, the Chumby still has a few months to go until an official release (it will be available to “insiders” in August, and to the public this fall).
According to sources at engadget, “[T]he Chumby will ship for $179.99, and will come with a 350MHz ARM processor, 64MB of RAM, a built-in microphone, a built-in accelerometer, a cleaner case and internals than we’d seen from the pre-production model, all alongside the 320 x 240 3-inch screen, two USB ports, 2W speakers, and WiFi that we’d already seen.”
Let’s hope all goes well. By the way, it will come pre-installed with Flash Lite 3.
Flash Lite’s role in the BREW ecosystem
fiercedeveloper.com wrote a short article about Flash Lite’s role in the BREW ecosystem citing the October 2006 deal between Verizon Wireless and Adobe. The article from fiercedeveloper.com can be seen as a sign that Flash Lite may be gaining more acceptance from the media, and that it may soon be seen as the standard for wireless development in the US and abroad.
“Verizon’s expanding selection of handsets, and Adobe’s support of Flash Lite for BREW, is a strong signal for developers considering Flash Lite.”
At the BREW 2007 conference, we expect Adobe and Verizon Wireless to be talking about Flash Lite’s impact on some 37.5 million Americans. Verizon Wireless was the first US operator to adopt Flash Lite to it’s network, and the first operator worldwide to offer Flash Lite for BREW.
If you have interest in developing Flash Lite for BREW for Verizon Wireless, you may want to read our Adobe.com article, Developing Flash Lite for BREW applications for Verizon Wireless
It’s official: No Flash support on the iPhone
Sources at WWDC are reporting that there is officially no Flash support on the iPhone. Apparently, in the State of the Media address yesterday, the announcement was made that: “There will be no Flash support at the moment on the iPhone.” Developers are being told not to serve video via Flash, as there simply isn’t a player built for the phone yet.
Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog
Adobe’s customer research team is collecting an assortment of SWF content. “We are looking to get a wide range of content for a variety of purposes so that we can better understand the types of projects people are working on, and better support those projects that are not always posted on the web. We are especially interested in uses of SWF beyond web sites and advertising – such as (but not limited to) presentations, e-learning, character animation, prototypes, games, rich internet applications, etc. We’d also like to get representation of a variety of skill levels, so feel free to submit your project even if you are not an ActionScript user.”
For every 50 submissions we receive, we will select one at random to receive an Amazon.com gift card for $50 (US dollars). You can submit as many projects as you like!
For each submission, please send the following to flashresearch@adobe.com by July 6, 2007:
- Your SWF or a link to your project or a screenshot of the project
- A brief description (3 to 4 sentences) describing the audience and purpose of the project
- Descriptive tags to categorize the project’s content and purpose – Use as many or as few tags as you like, and feel free to make up your own. Some examples tags are included below.
- Percent of all your projects that are SWFs
- Percentage of time you spend writing ActionScript
- Percentage of time you spend using the timeline
- Your name
- Your job title and company
- Your phone number (so a member of the Adobe’s customer research team can contact you for a quick 15 minute phone call if they need more information)
Punchkick Interactive has authored it’s first article for Adobe.com. Zak Dabbas and myself (Ryan Unger) co-authored Developing Flash Lite for BREW applications for Verizon Wireless. This article covers not only the technical side of developing applications for BREW for Verizon Wireless, but also the marketing aspects of distributing content directly to Verizon Wireless or to a content catalog partner such as Atom Entertainment, FunMobility, or Smashing Ideas.
The article has three main sections:
1. Understanding the Flash Lite for BREW marketplace
2. Becoming an authorized Qualcomm BREW developer
3. Testing content on a Verizon Wireless handset
Read the full article on Adobe.com
Introduction
At the October 2006 Adobe MAX conference, Adobe and Verizon Wireless announced a partnership that would make Flash Lite content available to over 37.5 million Verizon Wireless subscribers. Flash Lite developers were understandably excited about the announcement, and teaching developers how to create content for Verizon Wireless became a central focus of the MAX conference.This article will teach you how to develop Flash Lite for BREW content directly for Verizon Wireless. It will detail the process of becoming an authorized Qualcomm BREW developer, testing your Flash Lite for BREW content on a Verizon Wireless handset, and selling your content through Verizon Wireless.
In addition to understanding the technical specifics of creating Flash Lite for BREW content, this article will also discuss the pros and cons of using the direct model for developing and distributing Flash Lite for BREW content—including the real costs and anticipated returns on your development investment. It will also briefly cover the process of selling content through an content catalog partner, and the pros and cons associated with doing so.
Also, we would like to thank Phil Pastore for helping out with the headshots.
Learn more about Punchkick Interactive’s Flash Lite development capabilities.
If you are at all interested in interface design, this is a MUST see product.
Via crave.cnet.com, After 5+ years of development, Microsoft shows off a top-secret multi touch screen kiosk device. Apple really has to be hoping that this technology does not get introduced into Windows mobile devices, because Microsoft could possibly blow away the iPhone (p.s. I never thought that I would say that).
The kiosk implications are endless—let’s just hope that it can use Flash.
Read the full article and see the video
A similar device
I think I might buy the Nokia N75 on Amazon for $-5.01
Sorry for the lack of posts. I have been working on a large mobile project that will bring a steady flow of blogging over the next few weeks. In the meantime, lets chat about my next phone.
Found via Biskero: Amazon is selling the Nokia N75 after rebate for $-5.01. I have been looking for a good 240×320 Flash Lite 1.1 pre-installed phone—and this might be it. The N75 has received favorable reviews from Engadget including this one. I’ll post my own report after I play with it for a few days.
Is Flyer worth the hype?
Felipe Andrade created Flyer for Flash Lite using Python for Nokia S60. The Flyer framework is great—it lets you access never before seen features with Flash Lite such as integrating with a mobile device’s camera, bluetooth, filesystem, (potentially) GPS, and much more. But is Flyer worth all the hype?
Flyer was built to extend Flash Lite 2.1 features with Python for S60. That’s quite a few prerequisites: Flash Lite 2.1 (the latest version of Flash Lite), Python (not preinstalled on phones), and a Nokia S60 device. I love what Flyer is trying to do, but I am reluctant to jump on the band wagon since the likelyhood of consumer adoption is low due to what is required to make this framework function.
When would I adopt Flyer? When it works on the current consumer standard version of Flash Lite. If your on Verizon, that would be version 2.1 However, Python for S60 is not synonymous with Python for BREW. And if your not on Verizon, that would be version 1.1.
My final thought is that I love what Flyer is doing—I just wish that it extended Flash Lite 1.1 and did not require a consumer to install Python and the Flyer framework (and yes, I realize that these are pipe dreams).
What are your thoughts? Vote, or comment on whether or not you think that Flyer is worth the hype.
