Flash Builder sneak peek: Mobile application development
I’m sure you all know that Flash Builder will enable you to build applications with Flex and/or ActionScript and then compile them for distribution on the Android Market. An upcoming version of Flash Builder will also enable the same workflow for iOS and BlackBerry Tablet OS applications. You’ll even be able to package these different types of installers in one go.
Android activations visualized
We all know that the device market is changing rapidly. We also know that Android is rapidly gaining market share but this video is still pretty amazing to see. It visualizes Android device activations from October 2008 until now.
(Hat tip AndroidCentral)
MWC wrap-up: my favorite devices
While sitting in the airport waiting for my flight home from Mobile World Congress I thought it was a good idea to sum up some of my favorite MWC announcements. One thing that definitely stood out was Android. The little green robot was everywhere! Google provided all their partners with Android candy and a robot display. This was also the first time that Google had a booth at MWC and it was the talk of the town! It was one of the biggest booths on the show floor and was always crowded. I’m guessing the slide and the giveaways had something to do with that.
Google asked a bunch of developers and partners to showcase their Android app on their booth and I think that really worked. Adobe partner Condé Nast showed off Wired Magazine and The New Yorker on a Motorola Xoom on the Android booth. The electronic versions of Wired and The New Yorker are built with Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite.
MWC was full of tablets. The Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the LG OptimusPad all look very interesting. NVidia even showed the LG OptimusPad with Flash Player 10.2 on Honeycomb! My favorite was definitely the HTC Flyer. Well… That and the PlayBook.
I really like the HTC Sense UI and HTC seems to have done a fantastic job at building a tablet specific version of the Sense UI. Sadly they were only showing it behind glass so they probably still have a bit of work to do. The specs look great though and this is high on my wish list. I also like BlackBerry’s PlayBook. RIM made a balsy move by opting for a brand new OS instead of picking one that already exists. And you know what… It works… The PlayBook is incredibly fast and the UI brings a nice breath of fresh air to the soon to be crowded tablet market. It’s completely different from anything else on the market. I also like the touch enabled bezel on the PlayBook.
There were also plenty of new smartphones at MWC. The ones that really popped out were the Samsung Galaxy S2, the LG Optimus 2X and the HTC Incredible S. The Galaxy S2 is incredibly light. It’s so light that it felt like there was no battery inside. The LG Optimus 2X is also very light and it runs on NVidia’s Tegra 2 making it incredibly fast. My favorite was again an HTC device. The Incredible S looks more or less like what I have in my Desire HD except that it’s faster and has a front facing camera.
Oh… I should probably say that all of the devices mentioned in this post have Flash Player preinstalled and there were dozens of other devices that also come with Flash Player preinstalled. These are just my favorites. It’s been an amazing show and I already look forward to next year’s edition.
MWC off to a great start
Mobile World Congress kicked off in Barcelona today and Adobe announced some amazing numbers. Developers and content publishers can now deploy Adobe AIR applications to more than 84 million smartphones and tablets running Android and iOS. Thousands of applications have been created and made available on Android Market and Apple’s App Store to date. By the end of 2011, Adobe expects more than 200 million smartphones and tablets to support Adobe AIR applications.
More than 20 million smartphones were shipped or upgraded with Flash Player 10.1 on over 35 certified devices in the first six months following the launch. For 2011, we’re expecting Flash Player to be supported on more than 132 million units worldwide. More than 50 tablets are expected to support Flash Player this year alone.
I’m really proud of what Adobe has achieved in such a short amount of time. This is my third year at MWC and we were actually talking about the things we’ve been showing at the show the last couple of years. It’s pretty amazing to see where we are today and to see the momentum in the market.
For more info check out http://adobe.ly/FlashMWC2011
Flash on!
Start building AIR for TV apps today! More exciting news for Flash devs from CES!
More exciting news for Flash developers coming out of CES this morning. Samsung and Adobe bring AIR to Smart TVs.
Samsung’s Smart TV platform (demonstrated at MAX 2010) will be the first to integrate support for AIR 2.5 for TV, making it easy for developers to build, distribute and monetize standalone applications through Samsung’s Smart TV applications store, Samsung Apps.
All of Samsung’s 2011 Smart TVs and Smart Blu-ray players will include support for Adobe AIR for TV and Samsung also announced plans to bring Flash Player 10.1 to its Smart TV browser.
Adobe is a key partner for Samsung and we are thrilled to be the first TV manufacturer to support Adobe AIR across the Samsung Smart TV platform,” said Boo-Keun Yoon, President of Samsung’s Visual Display Business. “Together, Samsung and Adobe are transforming the ways in which consumers interact with devices and content, providing rich, interactive applications built with industry-leading, cross platform tools.
Companies such as CNET, Epix and YouTube are already developing apps for Samsung’s TV app store. In the video below Don Woodward demonstrates what those apps look like on an AIR enabled TV.
You can already start building apps for the new Samsung TVs! Watch Don Woodward’s MAX 2010 session,“How to Develop AIR for TV Applications” and then check out the resource page on Adobe’s Devnet. Flash on!
Lots of exciting announcements at CES! Here are my favorites!
Oh wow…Is it just me or does the tech world look very different this morning? I’m talking about the many exciting announcements coming out of CES. I was able to catch a few minutes of the Nvidia press conference last night so let’s start with that.
Jen-Hsun Huang (Nvidia’s CEO): When you put great engineers [from both Nvidia and Adobe] together this is what you’re able to achieve.
When I heard him say that it immediately stuck in my mind. Just because it is so true! Nvidia’s Tegra 2 really is a game changer and such an achievement would not be possible without strong partnerships. Check out this video segment from Nvidia’s press conference showing the performance of Flash on a Tegra 2 enabled device.
The LG Optimus 2X will be one of the first Tegra 2 enabled devices and it looks damn sexy!
The Motorola Xoom (also powered by Nvidia’s Tegra 2) looks like another amazing device. The 10.1 inch display has a 16:10 aspect ratio, which makes watching video on it a lot less awkward than on the iPad’s 4:3 screen. Especially since most of today’s video is widescreen video. I never got why Apple went for the 4:3 screen… The Xoom looks great and yes… Motorola offers the full web…
Melissa Gardner (Motorola VP of consumer and product marketing): When you add Adobe in and the fact that they provide an internet experience that is exactly like the internet experience you have at home… That’s the magic.
The Motorola Xoom runs on Android Honeycomb. Honeycomb is optimized specifically for tablet devices.
There’s also lots of excitement about the BlackBerry PlayBook. Engadget got to play with one and here’s an example of the PlayBook’s very impressive multitasking.
Engadget: If you can’t tell, we’re very impressed. Overall the device is blazingly fast, comfortable to hold, and intuitive to use.
Oh… Just to make sure you got the message: All of the above run Flash! Did I not tell you that this was going to be an amazing year for Flash developers? Flash on!
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