Happy Holidays!
2010 was definitely a year with some spectacular roller coasters… I’ve been thinking all morning about which highlight I would pick if I had to choose one. Adobe MAX was definitely a huge highlight for me this year. The keynotes, MAX online, meeting Martha Stewart and William Shatner, the amazing buzz and meeting some amazing people at the MAX Bash, … It’s going to be tough to top that this year! But the biggest highlight is probably seeing how great the Flash community is. From the people that organize great events like FOTB, FFK, AUGXL, FITC, Flash Camps, user group meetings, … to the people that share code / help others and the people who read my blog and/or follow me on Twitter and Facebook. You guys are truly amazing. Wow… This is starting to sound like some acceptance speech for some award or something… Ehr… Before it gets too mushy… ;-) Happy holidays! 2011 is going to rock!
Motorola teasing a new tablet
2011 is going to be an interesting year! Apple has undoubtedly done an excellent job with the iPad but it has it’s obvious flaws. While they are currently the market leader in tablets the game is changing rapidly. With CES just a few weeks away big brands are starting to tease some of their announcements. (Man… I wish I could be at CES this year! So much cool stuff coming!) Motorola created this interesting teaser that doesn’t really say anything and yet says so much…
BTW… I’m doing a little bit of research on tablets and tablet applications. If you have a few minutes I would really appreciate it if you took the time to fill out this short survey.
Research: What’s your favorite tablet app and why?
The holidays are always a good time to do a little bit of research and since tablets are obviously going to be the next hot thing I thought about doing some research on tablet apps. I need your help though.
What I’d like to find out is what your favorite tablet apps are and why. I’d also like to hear from you if you currently do not own a tablet. To make this as easy as possible I created a Google Docs form. It would be a great help if you could take a few minutes to share your thoughts. Thanks in advance!
Think multi-screen
When we talk about apps for devices these days we are no longer talking about one device. Today we are talking about a multitude of devices and device platforms. The multi-screen story is also no longer about just different smartphones. We’re also talking about tablets, netbooks, set-top boxes, and Blu-ray players. Building applications for all of these can be a bit challenging to say the least. Dealing with different operating systems, device features, and screen sizes can be a bit of a nightmare.
In previous posts I already talked a bit about how the Flash Platform can help you with that. Flash was originally designed to run on multiple platforms and adapt to different screen sizes. This post is not about that though. I wanted to write down some thoughts about multi-screen applications from a user’s standpoint.
First of all, when you start thinking about building an application for devices it is a very good idea to make sure you have a multi-screen strategy. It’s not just about iOS devices anymore! “If we have two more quarters like this past quarter, Google will have 37% market share, RIM will be at 29%, and Apple will be at 26%“, Fred Wilson (a VC in New York) recently said in a blog post about where mobile developers should focus. He ends his post with this: “One thing I am sure of is that developing solely for iOS, which is a very common thing I see out there, is not the right strategy unless you only want to serve 25% of the market.”
Now building your apps for multiple devices is one thing… But what about the app’s content?
Evernote is a great example of a multi-screen application. I can run the app on my smartphone, on my tablet, in my browser or as a standalone application on my desktop/laptop. The best thing is that it keeps my notes in sync. It doesn’t matter where I am or which device I use. I always have my notes with me. Once I create new notes they automatically get synced with all the other apps when you are online. Simple concept, right? I really love this approach and would love to see this in all my apps. I try to mimic this by using Dropbox. I save all my project files on there so I can use them on both my laptop and desktop. Kindle by Amazon is also a good example (Thank you Chris Pelsor for pointing that out). There are Kindle apps for multiple devices and they all use the unique features that each device has to offer. You also have all your books available to you across all apps.
Like many of you I am also addicted to Angry Birds. I have it installed on my smartphone and on my tablet… But they are not connected to each other. Wouldn’t it be great if you could just open up the app on your tablet and continue playing the same level you last played on your phone? And maybe later continue playing the same level on your desktop? Or on your TV?
But I want even more… Wouldn’t it be great if one day you get a new computer, type in your credentials, and all your apps and content will start syncing automatically? I guess that is what Google is trying to do with ChromeOS. I must say that I really like the idea of not having to be tied to one machine. Obviously there are some privacy issues that we must conquer but I really like the concept.
Anyway… What I want to say is that when you start building your multi-screen applications stop and think about these things for a second. If your game has different levels or your application saves notes you may want to offer the user a way of syncing that across multiple devices. I’m sure your user will appreciate it!
flKinect: Socket server + AS3 library for Microsoft Kinect
Well… Now I may just have to get myself a Microsoft Kinect! I saw on Saqoosha’s blog that he was playing around with this and thought I would post this here. Koji Kimura wrote a Cocoa application to allow communication between the Microsoft Kinect and Flash. It looks amazing and opens up a whole new world of possibilities and it looks like the AS3 API is also very easy to use!
More info and downloads on Koji’s site.
As you may have guessed it is Mac only. If you know of any similar projects for Windows or Linux don’t hesitate to leave a comment below!
Update: Here’s another AS3 library + socket server app for Mac.
Update 2: Also check out as3kinect.org.
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