Marco Casario | RIAvolutionize the web

FlashLite 2.0 session at FlashForward 2006

Only one session dedicated to Flash Lite 2 will be presented at the FlashForward Conference 2006 :(

Designing for Flash® Lite / Moving to Flash Lite 2.0

Justin Everett-Church, Yahoo!

This session covers how Flash Lite is making good on the promise of rich experiences in the mobile space by enabling rich visuals and intuitive interactions. Justin will talk about visual design strategies for creating content on mobile devices and working with their small screens and smaller storage capacities. He will discuss interaction models made possible by Flash Lite and how to apply them in ways that work with existing interactions.

Learn about the new features of Flash Lite 2.0 and how they impact mobile development and design. This example-driven presentation will cover new capabilities of the Flash Lite Player as well as the authoring improvements in the Flash 8 Studio.

FlashLite embedded Nokia N92 full review

Don't miss this great review from AllAboutSymbian of new Nokia N92 with the DVB-H N integrated system and the Macromedia Flash Lite embedded.

 

My blog added to Nokia Series60 blog site

I am pleased to announce that my blog's been added to the Nokia Series 60 blog links :
http://www.blogs.s60.com/seeintos60/

Nokia S60 Blogs is a collection of several different blogs under the S60.com domain name that together create a forum for discussing every aspect of the S60 platform.
See into S60 blog features several authors from the S60 team and airs a variety of views on the S60 platform.

It's a peasure for me !! Thanks

DoCoMo and Texas Instruments is testing a new advanced chipset

More power and performance for your future FlashLite applications with new advance DoCoMo mobile phones.

Via WirelessWebLog I read that A new advanced chipset is currently being tested by Texas Instruments with help from NTT DoCoMo that could lead to the next iteration of 3G-enabled mobile phones becoming more affordable and widely available. According to both parties, the chipset aims to improve the video performance of advanced phones through the combination of a modem with an applications processor.

Submit your FlashLite app to win 25K €

Today I received this email from Macromedia concerning the Forum Nokia S60 Contest :

Macromedia and Nokia invite you to enter the application competition of the year, the Forum Nokia S60 3rd Edition Challenge. With 25,000 € in prize money in the Flash category alone, this is an opportunity that can’t be missed.

With five S60 3rd Edition phones already announced, we want to find new, innovative applications developed with Macromedia Flash that can be promoted to all application channels, including operators and aggregators. Sponsored by Nokia business units and Macromedia, there is tremendous opportunity for your application to be seen by the decision-makers who can take your application to the masses.

For the Flash category, enter any application mapping to the following genres:

› Gaming, Media, and Entertainment

› Tutorials and Interactive Help

› Personal and Enterprise Productivity

› Experimental/Other

Register today.

Companies that act quickly will receive the following additional benefits:

› The first 25 companies to submit their registration will get two free technical support requests during January and February, 2006.

› The first 50 companies to submit their registration will receive a free Symbian Signed Testing Round, provided by Symbian.

Registration deadline is December 15, 2005.

To learn more about the competition, entry categories, and prizes and to get registration details, visit macromedia.com.

One frame timeline animation for FlashLite apps

I love to have my main timeline, for my Flash and FlashLite applications, easy to read and with  few frames.
In fact I prefer to handle all animations not on the root timeline but on the movieclip timeline and then use a tellTarget("../"){gotoAndPlay("myFrame");} command.
E.g.

1. create a new flashlite movie
2. select the first frame frame of your root timeline and open the Action panel
3. write a simple stop(); command
4. create a movieclip named animation
5. enter the movieclip timeline and create your animation
6. at the end fo the animation open the Action panel and write the following code :
   
   tellTarget("../"){gotoAndPlay(+1);}
   gotoAndStop(1);
7. publish and test your movie

Now with an only one frame on your root timeline you can control your long-frames animations.
Here is my flashlite source file you can download (OneFrameTimeline.swf)  and use to better understand (thanks to my friend Alberto for the cool comtaste flashlite animation )

Skype coming to Nokia S60

Via Mobile Mag I read cool rumors :

At the Voice On the Net (VON) conference in Toronto, Skype Technologies co-founder and CEO Niklas Zennstrom reported that a mobile version of Skype will be available this year."

Can't wait to see Skype on my Nokia !!

Opera contest for coders and creatives

Opera sets up two contests - one judged by artistic ability, the other based on programming prowess :

Artistic Entries
To kick off the release of Opera's debut on the Nokia 770, we're giving away two of these cool little gadgets. Here's how you win: print out a life-sized picture of the Nokia 770. Show us how you would use the device if you had the real thing. The two submissions the community judge as being the best will have their paper mock-ups replaced by the real thing!
Sign up and read more about the contest.

Programming Participation
If you're more interested in showing off your coding skills, we've got you covered there too. With the recent introduction of Opera Platform, we're wanting to see what kind of cool mobile AJAX applications users can come up with. We've also published a few tutorials to help you along. The 1^st place winner will win a new Nokia N70. If you need help with your project, you can ask a question or look around the Platform forum once you have applied for the group.
Sign up and read more about the contest.

What if we develop one button flashlite games ?

Found this interesting article on Gamasutra site that focuses  on one button interaction. I think this is a must-read topic for all flashlite game developers, even if I know that our mobile devices are almost closer to consolle keypad with their four or more buttons ;)

Read the One Buttons game article on Gamasutra !

Nokia 6111, full of features but no FlashLite embedded

Via PhoneMag I read all the new features of next Nokia 6111, but I did not find the FlashLite player :(

Detailed specifications

- Tri-band EGSM900/1800/1900 networks in Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America, and South America where these networks are supported
- Automatic switching between bands
- Weight: 92 g
- Dimensions: 84 x 47 x 23 mm, 76 cc
- Active TFT 262,144-color, 128 x 160 pixels (29 x 35 mm) display
- Megapixel camera with landscape camera mode w/ Camera flash
- Video streaming and recording for more than 60 minutes at 40 kbps (memory dependent)
- Xpress audio messaging
- MMS OMA 1.2: Combine image, video, text and voice clips and send as MMS to a compatible phone or PC; use MMS to tell your story with a multi-slide presentation. The MMS OMA 1.2 specification allows you to send/receive messages up to 300 kB in size.
-Text messaging
- Integrated video player for download and playback or for streaming: 3GPP, H.263 video, MPEG-4, and AMR
- Video encoding and playback in QCIF format with sound
- Use AAC/MP3 tracks for ringing/alert tones, as well as MIDI/polyphonic tones
- FM stereo radio
- Visual Radio
- Push to Talk: Push to talk over cellular (PoC) lets you use your phone like a walkie-talkie
- Approximately 23 MB (21 MB if Chinese-English-Chinese dictionary is included *(only in some areas)) available for video, audio, image files
- Games: Rally 3D, Golf Tour, Backgammon II, Solitaire
- Java™ MIDP 2.0 with Bluetooth API makes downloading new applications easy
- Bluetooth, Infrared, USB port, Easy remote or local synchronization with a PC or other compatible device
- Integrated XHTML browser connects over TCP/IP stack
- 3GPP video streaming
- Smart content download: OMA DRM 1.0, MMS 1.2
- EDGE multislot class 8 (4+1): speed up to 236.8 kbps
- GPRS multislot class 8 (4+1): speed up to 85.6 kbps
- HSCSD (high-speed circuit-switched data) transfer up to 43.2 kbps in HSCSD networks
- Voice dialing
- Integrated handsfree speaker
- Up to 64 channels of polyphonic ringing and gaming tones and true tones