HTML5 and Flash play along just fine in Sour’s “Mirror” music video
It’s not about which technology you pick! It’s about what you do with it! This online music video from Japanese band Sour is a perfect example of how HTML5 and Flash can play along just fine. I already said this once before but it’s great to see that people are starting to realize that HTML5 and Flash can greatly complement each other.
It’s really hard to explain what the music video does and looks like. You’re just gonna have to try it yourself! The site does ask you to log in to Facebook and Twitter and even asks you to connect your webcam but it’s all good. It won’t start spamming your Facebook/Twitter followers and the webcam integration is actually a lot of fun. At the end of the video you can even download an image of yourself in the video.
It’s great to see that one of the developers behind this is Saqoosha who you may know from FLARtoolkit fame. I just saw that he’s playing around with a Microsoft Kinect AS3 library!
One quick little anecdote: It was funny to see that Engadget originally titled their blog post about it with “Sour’s Mirror HTML5 music video is absolutely wild” saying it was all built with just HTML5. I’m glad they saw that they were wrong, changed the title and added this to the post: “It’s stunning. Why can’t HTML5 and Flash always play this nicely together?”.
Let’s make 2011 the year we all get along and focus on creativity and great user experiences instead of focusing on one technology killing the other. Deal?
1 code base, 6 devices: Now including BlackBerry PlayBook
A couple of weeks ago I published a post about a proof-of-concept application that I built for a local commercial broadcaster. The app that I built in just 5 hours ran on 5 different devices. As I just started playing around with the BlackBerry PlayBook SDK I wanted to see how long it would take to push this app to the PlayBook. I was pleasantly surprised that it just worked! It only took me 2 minutes. So I can now say: 1 code base, 5 hours, 6 devices! It now runs on my desktop/laptop, HTC Desire HD (Android smartphone), Samsung Galaxy Tab (Android tablet), Google TV, AIR for TV, and now the BlackBerry PlayBook. And that, my friends, is the power of the Flash Platform! ;-) It’s a great time to be a Flash developer!
When you look at the video you will see one small flaw in my app though. The preloader screen doesn’t adapt to the bigger screen resolution so that will be the only thing I would have to update. Everything else is exactly the same code as the Android version of the application.
To get started building applications for the BlackBerry PlayBook check out the BlackBerry developer site. My fellow evangelist Renaun Erickson also has a ton of information about developing for the PlayBook on his blog!
Please note that the PlayBook emulator currently does not output audio from Flash video files and currently only plays videos that are encoded with the On2 VP6 codec. This is only a limitation because of the beta quality of the emulator.
InMarket: Monetizing your apps made easy
InMarket makes it incredibly easy to start making money with your AIR applications. InMarket provides a central mechanism to distribute, monetize and manage applications across various channels. In just a couple of easy steps and only a couple of lines of code you’ll be able to add a complete payment and licensing solution to your application.
Once your application is ready you can submit it to the InMarket Portal. InMarket will then submit your application to multiple application stores. Adobe is working with several store partners to provide the widest distribution possible for your applications across devices. Intel AppUp and the AIR Marketplace are the first stores that are supported and we’ll keep adding new stores once they become available. These stores will not only be available on laptops and netbooks but also on tablets, mobile phones, TVs, and set-top boxes. You can also just distribute the application on your own website using an AIR install badge.
One of the biggest benefits of InMarket is that you only need to remember one URL and login/password. If you have an update to your application you can just submit it to the InMarket Portal instead of having to update the file on all the different stores you published it on. The portal also has all the information available about your app and your revenue.
InMarket also allows you to create trial versions of your application. These trial versions can be time based or feature based. You can have a time based trial that gives the user full access to the app for a number of days or disable some of the features of the app until the user buys a license.
For instance, a feature based trial for a game could be one free level. If you want to play more you have to buy the app.
If you wanted you could even build an application that shows a “nagscreen” every x minutes to prompt the user to buy your app.
Adding InMarket to your application is also really easy. The InMarket portal will tell you exactly what you need to do and will even generate the necessary code.
If you sign up for InMarket today we’ll also give you a free code-signing certificate that you can use to sign your applications. You receive 70% of the sales revenue; Adobe and its partners take care of credit card processing, hosting, and marketing.
For more information and registration go to adobe.com/go/inmarket.
And the prize for most unreliable means of travel goes to… Eurostar!
Warning: rant alert! This rant is not about being stuck because of severe weather conditions (even though it’s hard to understand why some Eurostar trains are running and others aren’t). This rant is about Eurostar communicating with their customers.
UPDATE: Make sure you read the latest update at the bottom of this post. I am actually impressed by how organized St Pancras station is today compared to last year!
I’m sorry… This is extremely off topic but as I was in a similar exactly the same situation just a year ago I felt like I had to blog about it to document this. Eurostar used to be the one of the most reliable ways to travel from Brussels to London but I haven’t had much luck lately. Delays and rude staff are seemingly more than normal these days.
When I arrived in London on Monday we were already delayed for half an hour. Delayed because of… snow? Hmm… I wonder how they travel in the icy North. Surely they have trains as well, no? Anyway… I was already thinking about the train ride back home on Thursday. And yes… I just returned from dinner and found an email from Eurostar in my mailbox.
Due to the weather conditions in the UK and Northern France, we are running a revised timetable on Thursday 2 December.
We are advising customers to postpone and rearrange their journeys. For those customers who decide not travel they can either exchange or refund their ticket within 60 days for travel within 90 days through their original point of sale.
More detailed information is available on www.eurostar.com
Oh wow… That email surely says a lot, doesn’t it? Can I still get home? What is that revised timetable? Wouldn’t it be easier to say “Hey, we saw that you’re booked on this train. We rebooked you on that train”?
The Eurostar homepage says almost the exact same thing.
Due to the current weather conditions, Eurostar will be operating a significantly reduced timetable on Thursday 2 December, with a number of cancellations. In addition, Eurostar services will be subject to delays of up to 90 minutes.
So now I still don’t know whether or not I can get home. After 2 more clicks I finally find out that my train is canceled. Ok… So now what?
Customers wishing to travel are advised to turn up at the station for their original booked train and they will be accommodated on the next available service. For travellers booked on a late evening services that has been cancelled, you are advised to turn up after 12:00. We will try to allocate seating on another service as per the revised timetable. Please note however that very limited capacity will be available and therefore if you are able to postpone or cancel your journey we strongly advise you to do so.
Right… So apparently I’m supposed to go to the train station at noon to see if they can put me on a train in the afternoon or not. Ok… So… Message to my manager: I won’t be able to present at Flash Camp London tomorrow ’cause I have to stand in line at the train station in order to hear if I can get home or not. Ehm… Yeah… I don’t think so…!
This seems to be somewhat of a crisis situation (half of their trains are cancelled) so I thought I would ring up the Eurostar customer service to see what I am supposed to do… “Welcome to the Eurostar customer service line. We are currently closed…”.
I find this absolutely unbelievable. It seems that Eurostar hasn’t learned anything from last year’s disaster. Communication is so important in these kinds of situations and Eurostar is failing miserably. I’ll try and call them again first thing tomorrow morning but you already see where this is going, can’t you? I can already see the crowds at the train station with people who are trying to find out more and see if they can still travel. Exactly the same as a year ago… Great job, Eurostar!
Update: And it’s already happening. This is a picture from St Pancras station earlier today posted by Ben Miller on Twitter.
And this one from Rob de Main also speaks a thousand words… In fact… There are lots of people Tweeting about Eurostar and the lack of communication.
I’ll keep you posted…
Update December 2nd – 7:15am GMT: Back home in Belgium it is now 8:15am. I just called the Eurostar support desk. I got an automated message saying that “they are closed right now and are open from 8am till 5pm”. Another fail.
Just found an interesting question on Twitter: “Why cancel the odd train here and there? Surely if some can run, they can all run…”. Wouldn’t they just be able to start earlier and end later and get everyone home?
7:30am GMT: It is now 8:30am in Belgium. The Eurostar support line is still closed. This is an absolute disgrace.
7:45am GMT: I’m beginning to sound like a broken record. It is now 8:45am in Belgium. The support line is still closed even though their site and the automated message say that they are open from 8am. I have a feeling that I know what they are waiting for. They are waiting for the UK support line to open up in 15 minutes. The Belgian support probably doesn’t know anything until they open. Same story as last year…
8:00am to 8:15am GMT: Tried calling both the Belgian and UK Eurostar service desk. The Belgian number just gave a busy tone. The UK number had a recording that basically said: “We’re busy. Don’t bother us. Call later.”
8:50am: I finally get through to the UK helpdesk. They only repeat the same message that was on the site: “Come to the station. We’ll put you in the first available seat.” So… I’m doing my preso at Flash Camp London and then I guess I’m going to stand in the queue in St Pancras station. If you travel by air and they cancel your flight, you are automatically booked on the next available flight. Why can’t Eurostar do the same thing? Again, that would avoid angry passengers who have to wait in line in the freezing cold (St Pancras station is not heated!) for hours… I really don’t get it…
1:28pm GMT: I am impressed! I arrived at St Pancras station and didn’t see a queue at the ticket desk. While the communication via email, site and the support line hasn’t changed much since last year, the organization in the station definitely has! The Eurostar staff was actually very helpful and friendly and everything is actually very organized. I could just go to the check in desk and get a ticket for next available train. Because I am a frequent Eurostar traveler I could check in at the designated check in desk for Carte Blanche holders and business travelers. There was no queue. The guy at the check in desk gave me a sticker with my new seat number on the next available train. The train is scheduled for 2:34pm but that could still change. But… again… I am impressed by how organized the station has become compared to last year. Last year the staff knew absolutely nothing and couldn’t really help. So Eurostar did learn from last year’s mistakes! They just need to get their online and phone communication sorted out as well. Now… While I have a ticket and a seat on the next train I do realize that the train will probably be delayed even more and possibly still get canceled. But let’s be optimistic… I have a good chance that I may actually get home today.
2:53pm GMT: I’m still here in St Pancras. It’s all good though. I’m warm, have a comfy seat and am working on some blog posts and code. It looks as if they’re running about an hour behind on the original schedule. So if that’s correct I should be boarding the train in about half an hour or so. We’re getting regular updates so we do know what’s going on. Fingers crossed.
3:41pm GMT: Still here. The train that rolled in to the station about half an hour ago doesn’t seem to be ours. They just announced that they are still waiting on trains to arrive before they can start boarding.
3:46pm GMT: Weird… The train that rolled in to the station earlier just left completely empty…
4:31pm GMT: “We’re still waiting for trains to come in to the station. Thank you for your patience.” And while I type this a train rolls in to the station. Let’s hope this is ours… Another weird thing: That train was completely empty when it rolled in to the station.
4:48pm GMT: A second train just pulled in to the station. No announcements yet…
4:51pm GMT: Yay! “We will be boarding the green train shortly”. I’m going home!
10:30pm GMT+1: I’m finally home!
Introducing StageVideo and Flash Player 10.2
StageVideo is a huge improvement to Flash Player! By using StageVideo in your applications you can decrease processor usage by up to 85%. It also enables higher frame rates, reduced memory usage, and greater pixel fidelity and quality. In addition to leveraging hardware decoding of H.264 video (introduced with Flash Player 10.1), Flash Player can now display and scale video using the GPU as well, performing all calculations in graphics hardware to offload work from the CPU and extend battery life. StageVideo benefits not only H.264 video, but all video codecs in Flash Player are composited by the GPU when StageVideo is used.
If you haven’t seen the StageVideo demo by Tinic Uro at Adobe MAX you may want to check that out first!
Now that you’ve seen the demo it’s time to start building and test your video apps. Using the StageVideo API is really easy. My colleague Mihai Corlan has an excellent blog post on how to add StageVideo to your applications.
While StageVideo is a big and fantastic improvement in Flash Player it is not the only new feature. Developers can now also define custom native mouse cursors. This new feature allows developers to define native mouse cursors, including animated cursors, at the OS level. This eliminates the need for ActionScript code to emulate custom native cursors, increasing performance.
For more information check out Adobe Labs.
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