Adobe and HP have just launched a new video showing Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR 2.0 running on the slick, new slate device from HP. The video shows several types of content and is a great preview of what is capable when a device fully supports the web.
Lee
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I just finished uploading a new tutorial that shows you how to use the ByteArray class to parse and display images in formats that Flash doesn’t natively support, in this case BMP. In the tutorial I explain how to read a file specification and translate that into ActionScript 3.0 code. If you need an introduction to the ByteArray class you can check out my slides from the recent workshop I did in Amsterdam. |
Lee
There are bunch of small things that I’ve wanted to blog about so I will just do them all in this post. They are listed below in no specific order.
FITC Amsterdam Workshop Files
Thibault Imbert and I delivered a full-day workshop in Amsterdam on using the ByteArray class. I have already posted the slides from this workshop but I procrastinated a little on uploading the finished ActionScript files. I have finally gotten my act together so you can now download the workshop files. Thanks everyone for coming!
Two Flash Camps in Asia
In two weeks time I will be departing for Tokyo for the first of two Flash Camps in Asia. The second will be in Seoul, Korea. If you are just hearing about this now I regret to inform you that both events sold out within hours. Now I wish I could say that they sold out so quickly because I was speaking, but it is more likely because of the other top-tier Flashers who are presenting. The official speaker lineup is myself, Mike Chambers, Ralph Hauwert, Mario Klingemann, and Erik Natzke. I’m really looking forward to hanging with these creative mofos for a couple of weeks.
I Won’t Be Recording a New Flasher Magazine Soon
I’m trying a little reverse psychology on myself here. I have promised a new issue for a long time and have not delivered. People often come up to me at conferences and ask me when I’m going to do a new tutorial. But people are downright angry with me for not doing another Flasher. I have just purchased a new Canon EOS 7D just for this purpose so hopefully I will get my act together.
Flash Player Gets a New Product Manager
A couple of weeks ago, Justin Everett-Church left Adobe to start his own company, leaving a gap in the Flash Player product management team. I’m very excited to announce that my good buddy Thibault Imbert has accepted this position. Thibault is an ActionScript master and will make an awesome addition to the player team. He will be relocating to San Francisco sometime soon so things are going to get very French around here.
Latin Flash Tour 2010
Yes I know it is early to be discussing this but I just wanted to let all my friends down south know that we are already planning things. We will be adding a stop in Brazil, most likely in Rio de Janeiro. There are rumors of big name special guests that may be attending as well. Look for more details soon on cities and dates.
Lee
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I just finished uploading a new tutorial explaining how to create applications that respond to multi-touch gestures like zoom and rotate. This example creates an Adobe AIR 2.0 application as it is currently the only solution that will work cross-platform. I show the application running on both a MacBook Pro and an HP TouchSmart computer. Look for more tutorials on multi-touch once I get some better hardware. |
Lee
There was so much exciting news to come out of Barcelona this week if you are a fan of mobile devices. We saw Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR both announced on the Android platform. As I’m sure you have seen from the demos, not only are these technologies running on Android, but they are running extremely well. There was also the announcement that Flash Player and AIR will be coming to Blackberry devices as well. It’s great to finally see some results from all the hard work Adobe and its partners in the Open Screen Project have been doing.
The example that really blew me away regarding the potential of AIR on tablet devices was the new magazine reader created jointly by Adobe and Wired Magazine. This amazing application allows for a state-of-the-art digital magazine experience and includes things like a multi-touch UI, 3D views, and fully integrated social media and video content. It also utilizes the Text Layout Framework, which provides amazingly rich text capabilities that far exceed what is possible with any other runtime. Check out the video below to see the new reader in action.
If you want to check out an existing AIR application that uses some of the elements shown in the Wired Reader, I highly recommend downloading the New York Times Reader application. This is one of the slickest AIR applications I have ever seen.
The creative community that designs and develops content using Adobe tools are legendary for creating unique interactive content. Through Adobe AIR, this community will be able to easily turn design ideas into finished applications that run across virtually all operating systems and mobile devices. They will even be able to export these applications for the iPhone and iPad using the new packager coming in Flash CS5. As a side note to that, no single individual, regardless of how many tantrums they throw, will ever be able to stifle the innovation of the Flash community.
Lee
There were some great polished keynotes at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona this week. While they did an awesome job showing off Flash Player 10.1 in the mobile browser, I put together a low-budget video showing some of the stuff that wasn’t shown. Enjoy!
Lee
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Right about now at Mobile World Congress, Adobe is officially announcing Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR for Android. I truly believe these technologies will redefine the mobile experience. Kevin Hoyt recorded a great video overview showing some demos on the Motorola Droid, which I have embedded below. I have also been testing a selection of mobile Flash sites, created by key partners like YouTube and ESPN, and I am very excited about the future of Flash in the mobile browser. |
These technologies, combined with Flash CS5, will revolutionize how developers create mobile applications. It will be easy to create a single application and deploy it to the iPhone and also to other devices via Adobe AIR. You can also use the same code and assets to deliver a mobile browser version using Flash Player 10.1. Google has made a great choice partnering with Adobe and I believe consumers will benefit by being able to choose whatever type of content they want to view.
Expect much more information about developing for Adobe AIR and Flash Player 10.1 here on this blog and over at gotoAndLearn(). If you want to get busy right away learning about the low-level details about how to optimize content for mobile devices, check out this beta version of a white paper created by Thibault Imbert. Seriously this white paper should be printed out and kept by your side as you create Flash content as it is chock full of secrets for getting the most out of the Flash Player.
Also for more details straight from the AIR team, please visit the Adobe AIR Team Blog. These are exciting times!
Lee
Lee Brimelow is a Platform Evangelist at Adobe focusing on the Flash, Flex, and AIR developer communities.
