HTC Hero, The First Android Device To Support Adobe Flash!!!!!!

Though late arrival, never thought that this would be so pretty cool. Now Flash has come alive in it’s first Android based device, the Hero from Open Screen partner HTC!!!!!

It should be a direct sequel to the G1, and has all the features like multi-touch HVGA screen, accelerometer support, GPS, Compass, WIFi, 5 MP camera, Android Webkit Browser, and now with having Adobe Flash makes for even more very rich mobile web user experience.  

Check out the device here!

Adobe has a good a really good press release which explains in detail. They also have made a good video where the Adobe Platform team explains some of the features of the Flash implementation on the HTC Hero device.   According to Mark’s blogpost, it’s possible to view up to 85% of online video through the Flash Player, supports latest Flash Lite 3.1 supports streaming audio capabilities, as well as support for around 80% of Flash content on the web today through the device’s web browser. On this device, double clicking Flash content (games, ads, etc) brings it fullscreen mode, which seems to work very much intuitively: Demo of Flash on the HTC Hero (an Android device).

What version of Flash is this? Well, right now it’s Flash Lite 3.1 according to Adobe.  However, there have been prior public announcements that Flash 10 is coming to Android (by as soon as end of this year), as well as other mention of other SmartPhone platforms like webOS, Windows Mobile, & Symbian for starters down the lane.  Mark says that the HTC Hero has Adobe Distributable Player.  My lateral thought would be that, they (HTC) may upgrade the device at some point later (whether that means Flash Lite 3.x or Flash Player 10 can be anyone’s guess).  Here are few words from Adobe: Serge Jespers, Mark Doherty.  Here are some of the interesting comments from the Peter Elst & Dale Rankine of flashlite community.   With now over one billion devices running Flash, and Android represents a nice (open) platform in which Flash to grow, develop and play.  This new HTC Hero device represents the true mobile (web) experiences possible and I think we’ll see much more devices in the future.

Verbose Is Now On GamesPlaza

My game Verbose now features in BoosterMedia’s mobile site www.gamesplaza.mobi. You can find it under the puzzles section. You can lookup here and download it directly onto your mobile.

You can play the game and vote for it based on your experience.For those who have not played Verbose yet, its a game based on anagrams. The words don’t repeat easily and if you can find the word, you can always get a hint.

I have also made a Dot release to the same game, eliminating few bugs and also improved the User experience. You can get it, here. The Dot release would soon be available on Gamesplaza as well.

Flash Player 10 On Android !!

Yesterday, the news was confirmed by Adobe’s CEO, that Flash Player 10 would be ported to Android platform and a Beta version of the player would be available by the end of October. Excerpts from the news release :

“We are bringing Flash Player 10 to smartphone class devices to enable the latest web browsing experience. Multiple partners have already received early version of this release and we expect to release a beta version for developers at our Max conference in October. Google’s Android, Nokia’s Symbian OS, Windows Mobile and the new Palm Web OS will be the first devices to support web browsing with the new Flash player…”

Read more,here.

This is interesting news and there are lot of people coveting to get Flash player running on their handsets. But there are few queries to address few queries like – will PaperVision3D kind of libraries be possible to use, considering the limited computing capacity of the device. Flash Player renders extensive support to 3D and lot of Game engines have been scripted in AS3. We will have to wait till the official release is made to know more on this.

Also known is the fact that porting of Flash Player to iPhone is also in progress <Read>. And quite soon, Flash player can claim to be truely ubiquitous platform running across PCs, handsets and consumer electronics.

Now, Latest Flashlite Enabled Nokia devices Spreadsheet Data From Bill Perry From Nokia

Now Bill Perry from Nokia has a new blog/website – Bill (Mobile Perry) and he has updated his Nokia Flash enabled device list.

He has included not only the latest handset specs (including very latest 5th edition devices such as the 5800  & N97), but also some Maemo devices, namely the N800, N810, and N810 WiMax (which support a Flash 9 browser plugin)

You can download the PDF directly here while reading this one here.

It’s a very  useful resource for flashlite community, since the information in Adobe Device Central can sometimes be still (particularly if you don’t get ADC updates), and Bill has put in more information in his post, such as hardware support such as GPS, touch screen, rotation features, and even software feature support such as video support, S60 Platform Services and OVI Store support too.  This is one should appreciate in his efforts in putting all the updates in one place in go.

A Resource For Mashups !

With so many Mashups coming up daily and being largely motivated by the revenues attractive mashups make, I am sure that there are lots in the developer circuit who are waiting for a right API to build their Mashup on. To all such people out there, here is a wonderful URL, programmableweb, that has aggregated most popular APIs that are available online.

There are APIs defined by category, like Music, Office, Blogging, Payment, Photos, Travel, Utility and many more. Most APIs here are based on REST architecture( nearly 60%), followed by SOAP.

Want to know about the hard-hitting Mashups ? Programmableweb’s another feature is showcasing the popular Mashups, as you can see here. As of today, most Mashups are based on Mapping, Video, Travel and also microblogging.

For Flash enthusiasts, here are a set of APIs from Programmableweb.

So, get started and build your mashup today.

The New Avenues Opened By N97

This is a sequel to my previous post.

As a developer, N97 is of high importance.  It is the first phone that has both Touch and QWERTY keyboard from Nokia, like the Google’s Android. This opens new avenues for a developer and I am listing a few which struck me once I saw the device.

1. The screen has two orientations and the second landscape type opens great potential for arcade games or even fighter games. Think of the golden games ten years back.  Those games can now be adapted to the mobile space.  I would not be surprised if Mortal Kombat 4 arrives to the N97. You have a full QWERTY to game with.

2. The gaming D- pad on the left of the screen is once again a beautiful control for gamers.   Quite similar to the games on PSP. So, may be PSP’s primitive games can be ported. But you must consider that PSP is a class apart on its own.

3. You have widgets on the main home screen.  A new WRT home screen is what they call with pride. Now widgets to be accommodated on the home screen can be designed. One such widget already built inside the N97 is the Accuweather widget.

4. Ovi comes pre-installed on this. So, N97 users can be easily reached.

5. For Flash developers, since the N97 is a S60 5th edition device, the Platform services API can be used be build more powerful and versatile apps.

6. Phones like these would have the ideal key control and UX for a game like FIFA or even NFS Most Wanted.  You can control directions with one hand and control keys for the other.

From a game developer perspective I feel like, this device opens up infinite opportunities for us.

Is It End Of Flash Lite?

This below article from online version of Wall Street Journal talks about a single version of Flash for both (Smart) phones and PC from Adobe:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124407409276583289.html#mod=rss_whats_news_technology.  Anyone here knows more about this?

N97 Marches In! Bold and Brave

Lets all put our hands together for the N97, Nokia’s most expected product marched its way into the markets yesterday.  The N97 is what I would call a – ‘Handheld Computer’. If you felt the the E71 or the N95 or the 5800 was, you are probably mistaken. Nokia is pushing the limits of Smartphone engineering.

We were amazed and dazzled at the 8 GB memory in the N95, but this gizmo offers 32 GB of internal memory. Reviewers say its a lot more quicker than its predecessors and boasts of a 50 MB free RAM after booting. And for gamers, you have a D-pad at the left. The disadvantages noted include a not-so comfy keyboard and the lack of TV out.

Want to catch up, with the first reviews of the device ? AAS has already done it, here.

Below is an interesting video, showcasing the N97.

New Components and Libraries Released By Forum Nokia

A whole new set of essential set of UI components have been released by Forum Nokia for Flash Lite developers. The set includes Button component, the List, the Scrollbar, Pop-up component, Media data component and Contacts component. The components can be used to develop applications to devices supporting Flash Lite 2.0 (and above). The developing environment requirements are Flash CS3 or CS4. Get them here.

 

 

Along with this, to encourage and help developers to build their own customized components, Forum Nokia has also come up with a Guide to build the new components.

Best of the news comes as Forum Nokia released Flash Lite Library v1.4  that has the following improvements compared to its previous version.

• Added section Software Update for S60. This section introduces the Software Update for S60 feature and discusses Flash Lite application development for devices that support the feature.
• Added section ActionScript Device object. This section describes the Device API and related methods. The Device API allows Flash Lite applications to access device features and to retrieve and modify system properties.
• Added instructions for resuming applications in the background when their ongoing asynchronous Service API calls return data.
• Added authoring tips for detecting the Flash Lite version on a device and playing screen savers on Series 40 Nokia devices.
• Updated sections Flash Lite versions, Flash Lite security, and Media playback with information about Flash Lite 3.1.
• Updated section Flash Lite design considerations with information about creating a dynamic layout for different screen orientations.
• Updated section Flash Lite examples with one Service API and two Device API example applications for Flash Lite 3.1.

The second feature listed is boon to developers. They can access the device info and yet publish their content in FL 2.0 players. The only catch being that the device has to be FL 3.1 compatible.

Nokia World ‘09 Announced…………..

Good news for all mobile developers. The biggest developer event in the Nokia circuits has been announced and this time it has big names on the speakers list.   The venue is going to be the heart of Europe, Stuttgart.

CEO’s of Nokia and CEO of Facebook are the highlighted speakers who will be joined by many distinguished people at this event.

You can get a glimpse of the showdown here.  Excited?  Want to be a part of it ?  Then register yourself here.