It’s a great time to be a Flash Platform developer (about Flash and the iPhone)
To come back to the title of this post, it really is a great time to be a Flash Platform developer. Without having to learn anything new (with the exception of some new APIs), you can now leverage your skills to create applications that not only run in the browser and on the desktop but also on millions of devices already in the market today. The Flash Platform gives you the broadest possible reach for your applications.
I’m sure you know that we’ve been talking about bringing Flash Player 10 to mobile devices and I think after today you’ll agree that we’ve made a lot of progress. We’ve been working very hard with our Open Screen Project partners to optimize Flash Player to run on a variety of smart phones. Flash Player 10.1 (the first runtime release of the Open Screen Project) will be available for a broad range of mobile devices, including smartphones, netbooks and other Internet-connected devices, allowing your content to reach your customers wherever they are. Check out these demonstration videos to see Flash Player in action on a Palm Pre and a Windows Mobile device.
The biggest announcement of the day was without a doubt the work we’ve done for the iPhone. In the not too distant future you will be able to build applications for iPhone with Flash CS5 Professional. Those applications can be distributed through Apple’s App Store. A public beta version of Flash CS5 Professional with this new capability is planned for later this year. This new capability in Flash CS5 Professional allows developers to use their preferred Flash Platform tools and technologies to develop content for a device that was previously closed to them. Because the source code and assets are reusable for applications that run on Flash Platform runtimes, Adobe AIR and Flash Player, it allows them to more easily target other mobile and desktop environments. If you’d like to test the performance on your iPhone, feel free to download any of the Flash based apps that are currently already available in Apple’s App Store. For more information go to http://adobe.com/go/iphone.
For an overview of other news released at MAX, check out Ryan Stewart’s rundown of the MAX news.
Flash on!
Adobe MAX social media & DeadDrop challenge
I’m sure that by now you will have noticed that Adobe MAX is literally just around the corner. The pre-conference show starts this weekend and the countdown has started to Monday’s first keynote. I have managed to sneak in to some rehearsals this week in the San Francisco office and I was absolutely speechless when I saw the amazing things we have lined up for the keynotes and sneaks.
I’m sure some of you will not be able to join us in Los Angeles and that is why we are doing everything we can to make sure you don’t miss out. I’m sure you already know that you can watch the keynote sessions live wherever you are but the conference will also be covered on the Adobe MAX blog, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Photoshop.com. For a complete list of social media resources, check out http://max.adobe.com/resources/
We also published a list of official and community driven Twitter-tags on http://bit.ly/adobemaxtags as well as a list of interesting Tweeters to follow http://bit.ly/adobemaxtweeters. For a full list of Adobe employees and products on Twitter, check out http://bit.ly/AdobeOnTwitter.
If you are in L.A. and are taking pictures, make sure you add them to the Adobe MAX Flickr group (http://bit.ly/adobemaxflickr) and check out the Flickr photostream (http://bit.ly/adobemaxphotos). I’ll try to add some backstage shots whenever I can.
And last but certainly not least, Lee Brimelow has put together a new DeadDrop challenge, which will start at noon on Tuesday October 6th. The winner will receive the grand prize (a US$7,500 value) including an Apple MacBook Pro with Adobe Creative Suite Master Collection and Adobe Flex Builder Professional fully loaded, a conference pass to MAX 2010 with 3-nights of hotel accommodation, and more. For details, watch the video at http://adobedeaddrop.com.
I hope you are as excited about Adobe MAX as we are!
My sessions at Adobe MAX
If I’m not in a session or rehearsal, chances are that you can find me in the community lounge or at the Adobe booth. Come and say “hi”!
Tuesday, October 6th, 9am-10am
ColdFusion for PHP developers
If you want to understand what ColdFusion is, why you need it, and how you can use PHP and ColdFusion together, attend this session. You may have tried ColdFusion once, switched back to PHP, and never looked at CF again. So did I, until I learned just how much time I’d save with ColdFusion. You’ll learn about the vast array of integrated services and understand why ColdFusion is considered the best server-side platform for building Flex and AIR applications.
Tuesday, October 6th, 10:30am
My appearance in the day 2 keynote
I’m extremely excited about this one! I’m sure this is going to be an amazing experience… It’s not every week that a small town guy from Belgium gets to be on stage in the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles. The same venue that is home to the American Idols Final show, The Emmy Awards, The American Music Awards and the likes… Really looking forward to it!
Tuesday, October 6th, 3pm-4pm
Flash Professional, Flash Catalyst, and Flash Builder: Facts, Features, and (work)Flows
Other speakers: Paul Burnett, Paul Trani, Ryan Stewart
Spend 60 minutes with three products with a single purpose: to help designers and developers deliver interactive content and rich Internet applications (RIAs) with the tool that’s best for their needs. Compare and contrast Flash Professional and Flash Catalyst use cases. Learn how to decide when a project is right for the Flex framework. And walk away with a better understanding of what tool is right for your skill set, your projects, and your professional goals.
Wednesday, October 7th, 1:30pm-3pm
Bring Your Own Laptop Lab: Multiscreen Development
Other speakers: Dale Rankine
Dive deep into development and design techniques for multiscreen applications built with the Flash Platform. You’ll create a scalable cross- platform application using common assets and Flash Player features and learn how to package and distribute it anywhere from desktop computers and mobile phones to the digital home.
Can’t make it to MAX? Organize a MAX party and watch the keynotes online!
Can’t make it to MAX? Well… we’ll miss you but… why not get together with some friends and colleagues and watch the keynotes together? No no… Not like that cheesy video you saw on the web… Unless your grandma is also in to everything Adobe ;-) Just hook up your laptop to a projector or big screen. Order some pizza, open up some beers (If you’re in Europe. Ordering pizza and drinking beer in the morning is just weird :D) and sit back to watch what I think are going to be the best MAX keynotes ever!
Register today on http://max.adobe.com/online/!
I wish I could tell you today about the cool new things we plan on showing during the keynotes but I really like my job here at Adobe so I won’t :D
Behind the scenes of the MAX widget – ColdFusion, FMS and Flex
Why ColdFusion?
There are a number of reasons why I chose ColdFusion but the main reason is that I wanted to create something fast and not worry too much about possible config issues when connecting to my Flex front-end. I wanted a solution that I could just quickly install on a new server and be ready to go without the need to add new extensions or plugins. ColdFusion is perfect for that. With one simple install, you have everything ready to go. From Flash Remoting to image manipulation libraries.
The other big reason is also very simple. I think eating our own dogfood is a big part of our job. I’m fairly new to ColdFusion. I actually first touched CF about a year ago on the On AIR Train Tour through Europe. That was the first time I played around with CF after oh… some 10 years of working with PHP. I looked at CF a few years ago and never really took another serious look at it. I’m sure there are many of you out there in the same situation and I would like to invite you to take another look at ColdFusion. CF has changed and matured a lot since the early days and is just a breeze to work with. With a minimum amount of code, I was able to rapidly code my database calls for the widget. Another cool thing about ColdFusion is that once you write your database code, you can use it in a number of different ways. You can directly call the methods using Flash Remoting in your Flex application, call it as a webservice from a mobile Flash application and/or call it from an HTML page without changing anything in the original code. I surely was pretty impressed when I saw that the first time. If you’re a long time PHP user and want to know more about ColdFusion, I’d like to invite you to my session at MAX. I’m going to talk about the difference and similarities between PHP and CF and also talk about what CF can do right out of the box.
Why Flex?
I thought long and hard about this one. Using the Flex framework does add a bit of overhead (about 200k) to my application but the return is well worth it. I also wanted to prove that you can easily do these types of applications using Flex. Even though it’s built with standard Flex components, it looks nothing like a standard Flex application. What’s even more important is that all the transitions and styles you see in the widget are available today. No Flash Catalyst or Flex 4 styling was used in this application. Another reason why I chose Flex for this is the fact that your application becomes so much more organized using the Flex framework. I know there are other frameworks out there that provide similar functionality for pure ActionScript 3 projects but over the last couple of years, I’ve really become accustomed to using the Flex framework and since time was limited I went with what I know best.
Why Flash Media Server?
Well… That’s obviously an easy question to answer. Yes, there are third party solutions and even services that would offer more or less the same functionality but I do work for Adobe and so I also chose our own dogfood for this task. It also just works. You download the installer package, install the server, run it and you’re ready to go.
How long did it take to build this?
Obviously the team size is very important in any project. So let’s talk about that first… Oh wait… It was just me ;-) From concept phase to development took just about 3 weeks. That also includes setting up the ColdFusion server and Flash Media Server from scratch, writing the back end and creating a little content management system (pictured here on the left) to easily add facts, administer user videos and check the Twitter stats. I also created a static image version using nothing more than some standard ColdFusion features and reusing the database calls that I already created for the Flash based widget.
Building this widget has been great fun and it was great to also be able to build a real application again. Now don’t get me wrong. Building demos is also a lot of fun but knowing that millions of people are going to see and use this application is a good feeling. Well… Maybe not millions but you have to set the bar high enough, no? ;-)
Anyway… I hope you enjoyed playing around with the widget as much as I enjoyed building it. Hope to see you at MAX in Los Angeles… Oh wow… Is that really just 3 weeks away? I better get back to preparing my demos then ;-)
Project Quindici = MAXwidget
I’m happy to announce that the project is now live. The widget is built with Flex Builder 3 and the Flex 3 framework, ColdFusion, Flash Media Server and Photoshop. I’ll do a follow up blog post about how it was built next week. I hope you like it.
Multi-screen development sessions: Help wanted!
With Flash On The Beach and MAX fast approaching, it’s about time to start prepping my multi-screen development session and lab for both events.
Before I can get started though, I need to come up with a good idea for a multi-screen application and I need your help in deciding which direction I should go.
So… What type of application would you like me to build for this session and lab? Entertainment? Food? Travel? Video? Photo? It can basically be anything as long as it has an in-the-browser version, a desktop version and a mobile version. I do have some ideas in my head but can’t decide on which one to use… That’s why I’m asking for your help!
Now, I’m not asking you to come up with a complete concept (but you can if you want to ;-) ). I’m just asking you to tell me what type of app you would like to build in the BYOL-lab at MAX and have me explain/show in my session at FOTB. I’ll reward the best idea with a goodie bag ;-)
Feel free to post your thoughts as a comment or use the contact form.
Getting to Adobe MAX 2009 on a budget. Get a $400 discount!
MAX TICKETS
If you get your MAX ticket before August 31st, you can benefit from the early bird pricing. A full conference ticket will cost you $1295 or €907. That’s a $200 discount on the regular pricing! That includes lunch on all conference days, access to all keynotes and evening events and access to all breakout sessions and labs. Traveling alone is no fun so there’s also a group discount. If you travel in a group of three or more, your registration price per pass is only $1095 or €767.
If you’re in the US, you can get $400 off the regular price when you purchase one of the listed products from the Adobe Store. This offer is only valid in the US but for you, my regular blog reader, I can do something special. If you’re not in the US, you can use promo code EMA931(restrictions apply*) to get a $400 discount on the regular pricing. Your MAX ticket will then cost $1095 or €767. Register here!
FLIGHTS
Finding an affordable flight is all about timing. If you book your flight well in advance, the flight will be cheaper. Generally if you also include a weekend stay, the price of your flight gets a lot cheaper. In case of MAX, I would suggest flying over on Friday October 2nd. Spending the extra days in the hotel is in most cases cheaper than the extra cost on the flight. Also check with your local travel agent. They may have a promotion for a certain airline. And also shop around! I’ve just checked some routes from Europe to Los Angeles and you can get a flight today for as little as €350. Which reminds me that I should probably book my flight as well ;-)
HOTEL
There are a ton of motels and hotels in the greater Los Angeles area and if you’re not picky, you can even find a place to stay for as little as €14 a night. There really is a lot of choice in LA and I’m sure you can easily find a place to stay in your budget range. You can find a decent hotel starting at €50/$70 a night. For hotels near the venue, check out this Google Maps link. If you don’t mind a little drive in the morning, you should also check hotels a little further away from the venue. But beware that LA traffic can be brutal in the morning and evenings.
CAR RENTAL
Renting a car is not a bad idea. Los Angeles is huge and public transportation can be a bit challenging. If you are going to rent a car, make sure you shop around! Compare the prices from different companies and also check with your local travel agent. They usually have even better prices than what you can get online.
If you do rent a car, make sure you also do some sightseeing. Meet up with some of your friends and colleagues to share the milage and do a little road-trip. I can really recommend going to Santa Monica and/or Venice beach.
If you want to do some shopping for some cool attire, head on down to Melrose Avenue (between Fairfax and La Brea). If you’re done shopping, get yourself a cookies and cream milkshake at Johnny Rockets on the corner of Melrose and Gardner. Make sure you sit outside so you can watch the people walk by and maybe you’ll even spot a celeb ;-)
I can also recommend doing some shopping at Farmers Market. Whether you want to shop for some fresh fruit, hot sauce, get some goodies at an Apple store or get a new Taschen book, Farmers Market has it all.
If this is your first time in LA, you have to walk Hollywood Boulevard and get a photo of your favorite celeb’s star on the walk of fame. But know that that will only keep you busy for about half an hour.
WHERE TO FIND THE BEST DEALS
I’ve recently discovered Momondo.com. This Danish startup finds the best travel deals for you and displays them in a nice uncluttered interface. Not sure if this is the cheapest flight available for that period? Then click on the price calendar to see if there are any cheaper flights. It will also find the best deals for hotels and car rentals. I’ve already mentioned it before in this post but also check with your local travel agent. You never know if they have a promotion for LA if you don’t ask.
DISCLAIMER: Please note that Euro pricing is provided for information only. Exchange rates calculated with Google on July 28th 2009. Also read Google’s disclaimer.
* Offer good for new Adobe MAX 2009 registrants only. Offer good for Adobe MAX 2009 full conference pass registration only. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer, package or registration code. Offer expires at 11:59pm PST on October 4, 2009. Offer is not transferable and valid only for intended recipient. Void where prohibited. Terms and conditions for Adobe MAX registrations will also apply.
