Help improve Flash Player 10.1 and AIR 2.0
Feb 8th
Here is how you can get involved:
- Download and install Flash Player 10.1 Beta 2 and AIR 2.0 Beta 2
- Test the new beta runtimes with your content and applications.
- Log bugs at bugs.adobe.com. Engineering teams use your bug reports to reproduce errors and improve the runtime quality.
As far as beta timelines, beta 3 releases are a few weeks away and release candidates are expected within 60 days. Your involvement and assistance during this critical development window are really important and will only improve Flash Player and AIR quality.
Please also help spread the word about the beta process via Twitter:
Improve Flash 10.1 & AIR 2.0 via Beta 2 http://bit.ly/aN4Qk0 READ & RT #Flash #AIR #QUALITY
Package Assistant for AIR 2 update
Feb 5th
I have just narrowed down the possible solution for the only reported problem. Some of you got an “Invalid input” error message and the packaging failed. I think this may be caused by forgetting to include the icons you use for the app. You have to include these in the final step where you add any additional files to the package.
I also updated the application so it now works with the AIR 2 Beta 2 runtime, which is available on Adobe Labs.
The Package Assistant application should still be considered in alpha phase. If you don’t mind testing alpha builds, go ahead and download the updated application. (Don’t forget to read these notes.)
If you find any other bugs or if adding the icons did not resolve the “invalid input” error message, feel free to leave a comment or email me directly.
Kevin Lynch (Adobe’s CTO) blogs about Flash, past and future, Apple iPad, HTML5, OSP and more.
Feb 2nd
Adobe’s CTO Kevin Lynch just published a blog post with his thoughts on Flash, past and future, Apple iPad, HTML5, OSP and more.
The blog post entitled “Open Access to Content and Applications” gives you a good idea on where Adobe and the Flash Platform is going and what we are doing with our Open Screen Project partners. It also repeats that “we are ready to enable Flash in the browser on Apple’s devices if and when Apple chooses to allow that for its users, but to date we have not had the required cooperation from Apple to make this happen.”
Read the post on blogs.adobe.com/conversations
The iPad’s browsing experience
Jan 29th
My fellow evangelist Lee Brimelow created an accurate view of the browsing experience on Apple’s new iPad. Sometimes a picture does say more than a thousand words… Go check it out on Lee’s blog.
Open letter from a Mac-head
Jan 28th
Dear Steve,
After working on Windows PCs for over 15 years, I switched to Mac about 6 years ago. I was sick and tired of spending more time keeping my system up and running than being creative. I remember it well. I actually borrowed a G5 to test both Mac and Windows head to head… and I never looked back. I immediately fell in love with OS X and the simplicity of using a Mac. Everything just worked and I could finally be creative again without worrying about crashes or driver conflicts. It wasn’t long before every single PC in the house was replaced by a Mac. I got a G5 to work on, bought a Power Book for work on the road, an iMac for my girlfriend and even an eMac for my mom.
When you announced the iPhone, I had my credit card in my hand somewhere halfway through your presentation. Sadly you only released it in the US at first and so I had to wait a little bit. I’m not ashamed to say that I “imported” one and hacked it so I could use it in Europe. You did a fantastic job with the iPhone and you truly changed the mobile industry. I could even live with the fact that the first version did not have the Flash plugin in the mobile Safari browser. I didn’t think I would, but I was standing in line the day you launched the iPhone 3G in Belgium and yes… I was also in waiting in line the day you launched the iPhone 3GS.
It was definitely harder to swallow that you still didn’t allow Flash on the 3GS. I totally found it plausible that the original iPhone’s CPU was struggling with Flash content but you said that the 3GS was a lot faster than the original iPhone. Add to that that Flash runs just fine on Android, WebOS, WinMo and Symbian smartphones… Together with the Open Screen Project partners, Adobe is working very hard on making sure that Flash Player 10.1 runs smoothly on these devices.
Yesterday, you announced the iPad. I recently bought an HP TouchSmart TX2 tablet (running Windows 7, which allows me to install both Flash Player, AIR and any other plugin) because you are right. There is room for something between the iPhone and my MacBook Pro. There definitely is room for a tablet to browse the web, play games, watch movies or read books on. However… this time you failed to enthuse me.
While the iPad’s form factor seems spot on, the limited operating system isn’t. When you demonstrated the web browser, it was very obvious that the browser did not support Flash (or any other plugins). When you showed the New York Times website, the video player was missing and a big missing plugin icon showed up on screen. Surely this is not the experience you wanted to demonstrate. You said you can browse the full web on the iPad but it clearly isn’t the full web… Isn’t that exactly why you would use a beautiful device like this? To watch video on sites like Facebook, CNN, ESPN, ABC, Fox, Hulu, MSNBC, Epix, … while you’re on the road? But it’s not just about video. What about those hundreds –maybe thousands– of sites that rely on advertisers to pay their bills? Sure… web ads can be really annoying but the reality is that advertisers like to use Flash for their ads. And what about games? Millions of people play Flash games on sites like Facebook, Miniclip, Kongregate and Disney every single day. Flash is a big part of the web today and when you promise “the best way to experience the web” I expect it to be the full web and not the crippled version you demonstrated on stage yesterday.
I’m sure Adobe would welcome you with open arms if you decided to join the Open Screen Project and help us to build an optimized version of Flash Player for the iPad. Some of our OSP partners have already demonstrated full HD 1080P Flash Video on a netbook so I see no reason why it wouldn’t work on the iPad.
I’m sorry to say that even though I am a Mac-head, I won’t be standing in line to get an iPad if I can’t browse the full web on it.
Serge
To anyone reading this: Make sure you blog your thoughts and/or leave a comment.
Update: Also read Ralph Hauwert’s and Mike Chambers’ post.
Flex: The Ecosystem
Jan 28th
To make it easier for you to find these third party tools, we’ve just posted a comprehensive list of products and projects that provide support for the Flex framework.
Upcoming events: WIF, MWC, FITC, FFK10
Jan 20th
WIF – February 5th & 6th – Namur, Belgium – http://www.wif-dogstudio.be/
WIF (Webdesign International Festival) is a worldwide event and this will be the first one in Belgium. It may sound strange to some of you, but I don’t speak at events in my backyard that much. Even though I live in Belgium, the majority of my speaking engagements are abroad. So it’s obvious that I am looking forward to this one. Maybe this one even more as it is the first event (to my knowledge) in the French speaking part of Belgium. I’ll be doing a keynote session at the end of the first day… right before the bar opens up ;-)
Mobile World Congress – February 15th-18th, Barcelona, Spain – http://www.mobileworldcongress.com
I already talked about MWC last week but let me repeat that I am very excited about MWC this year. If you’re a developer interested in mobile application development and interested in checking out MWC, then visit http://www.adobe.com/go/mwc2010. We’re offering Flash Platform developers a limited number of complimentary exhibition visitor passes (a value of € 599 per person) on a first-come, first-served basis.
FITC – February 22nd-23rd – Amsterdam, The Netherlands – http://www.fitc.ca
FITC starts just a few days after MWC so it’s obvious you can expect some cool mobile demos in the FITC keynote (along with other cool stuff of course ;-)). I’m also doing a session on AIR 2 and all the new features it has to offer. I will show a bunch of code snippets and how to use them in real applications.
FFK10 – April 13th-16th – Cologne, Germany – http://ffk10.flashforum.de
This event is three months from now, but tickets are going fast! This will be my third year at FFK10 and it’s always great fun. Sascha and Marc always do a great job putting this event together. This year will be their 10th anniversary and I promise to bring something cool to the keynote ;-)
If you’re going to be at one of these events, feel free to ping me and to come and say “Hi”. Hope to see you there!
Adobe at Mobile World Congress
Jan 14th
Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is just around the corner and you can already feel the excitement building.
2010 is going to be an amazing year for Flash developers who want to create mobile applications. Not only did we announce the Flash CS5 iPhone compiler but we’ve already demoed Flash Player 10.1 on a variety of devices from Android to WebOS to Windows Mobile. At Mobile World Congres in Barcelona we will be demonstrating uncompromised rich web experiences in Flash on the latest smartphones, netbooks, and smartbooks with some of the Open Screen Project partners. If you plan to attend the show, come visit us in Hall 1 and experience them firsthand.
We’re also offering Flash Platform developers a limited number of complimentary exhibition visitor passes (a value of € 599 per person) on a first-come, first-served basis. Email us with your name, company name, and email address (for each pass) if you’re interested. For more details, visit http://www.adobe.com/go/mwc2010.
From the evangelism team, Mark Doherty, Tom Krcha, Enrique Duvos and I will be there to answer your questions. Hope to see you in Barcelona!
CES summary: E-Readers, 3D TV and internet-connected TVs
Jan 11th
E-Readers
I have a Kindle and I absolutely love it. But I love it because it is so easy to use and even easier to buy books straight from the device. The same goes for the Nook, which directly taps in to the Barnes & Noble store. At CES, there were dozens of companies introducing their E-Reader… But I wonder if they can survive. None of them are connected to a certain store, which is both positive and negative. Like I said, I really like the fact that my Kindle makes it so easy to buy new books straight from the device. I don’t have to be near a computer to do so. All these other E-Readers don’t have that advantage.
The Entourage Edge E-Reader did jump out though. With its two screens (one e-ink and one color LCD) it definitely stands out.
3D TV
This was all over the place… All the big manufacturers were showing their versions of 3D TVs both with and without the awkward glasses. The ones I saw that didn’t need glasses failed to impress me though. I found it very hard to find the sweet spot to get the best picture and it wasn’t anywhere near the picture you get with the glasses. Panasonic showed a 3D version of the Avatar trailer on one of their new TVs. While you did need to put on the 3D glasses, the image quality was really amazing. I can see this technology working for movies but I’m not sure about “regular” TV shows and I’m not even sure this would work with sports. DirecTV is teaming up with Panasonic to offer a 24/7 3D pay per view channel focused on movies, documentaries, music and sports.
Internet-connected TVs, Blu-ray players and set-top boxes
These were everywhere… And I can really see this working. I wouldn’t mind having a news widget on my TV that pops up whenever there is breaking news. Or how about a Twitter widget that shows relevant Tweets of whatever you are watching? How about a weather widget that pops up when you switch on your TV/set-top box? Or maybe even live stock quotes while watching your favorite TV shows? Or how about making it even easier to watch YouTube or Hulu videos on your TV? This is exactly what interactive TV platforms have been promising for years. Sadly, the interactive TV platforms have failed to bring this type of interactivity and/or information to my TV. I believe this is partly due to the fact that these platforms are closed. With Internet-connected TVs, set-top boxes and Blu-ray players, you as a developer would be able to build your own widgets or applications and distribute them via the application stores or catalogs available on those devices. By allowing you to build those applications with web technology like HTML, JavaScript and yes even Flash, it’s a lot easier to build these types of apps and we may finally see interactive TV taking off!
Personal highlights
Boxee Box
I’ve been a user and fan of Boxee for quite some time and was really excited to see the Boxee Box in real life. It’s amazingly small and the new interface has made a giant leap forward. I’ve used a DLink MediaLounge and Apple TV before but they don’t even come close to what Boxee has to offer. The hardware specs look amazing and it even runs Flash Player 10.1 with hardware acceleration so it has no problem playing HD Flash Video. I’m not sure about the Boxee Box form factor though. While it may look great as a standalone device, it certainly would not do well in a rack setup.
Sony Dash
The Sony Dash is basically a Sony branded Chumby. The screen is a lot bigger though and it certainly is more polished than the Chumby but the idea is exactly the same. It even runs all the Chumby apps. I’d love to see this running Flash Player 10.1 in the future though.
Intel Infoscape HD wall
This was very impressive. These 2 meter tall multi-touch high resolution screens were displaying hundreds of Tweets, photos and other information with 3D graphics. According to Engadget, “The entire installation was powered by a single Core i7-based machine with Intel’s own graphics, and it was seen rendering 576 links of live information.”
