Marco Casario | RIAvolutionize the web

Is Nokia an Internet company ?

No. Definetly. Or better, not now.
But  Nokia wants to act more like an internet company  than a "traditional manufacturer" (via WebGuild).

Nokia introduced Ovi, the company's new Internet services brand name. With the introduction of Ovi, Nokia is expanding from a focus on mobile devices to offering a range of Internet services. Ovi, meaning 'door' in Finnish, enables consumers to easily access their existing social network, communities and content, as well as acting as a gateway to Nokia services.

Then, if you consider latest companies acquired by Nokia you can simply understand that Nokia is transforming itself  to a product and services company with broader revenue streams.

Nokia acquired a car navigation devices and mapping services company Navteq for $8.1 billion to gain digital maps of 69 countries.

Nokia acquired Enpocket to add technology for placing advertisements through text messages and e-mail.

Nokia acquired Loudeye to create a mobile music service to counter the iTunes and diversify its offerings.

i2 technologia featured on Forum Nokia with Anina's Flash Lite DressUp game

I'm very happy to spread the word for this news. Guys behind i2 technologia (Felipe and Luciano) were featured on Forum Nokia as a FN Success Story:

"French supermodel Anina and Brazil’s i2 technologia teamed up to create Anina Dress Up, a fashion-memory game created using Flash Lite from Adobe. It is available for S60 3rd Edition and S40 devices."

Ehi guys Congrats.
I can't wait to meet you again ;)

Waiting for the Nokia N96 I'm enjoying my N95 8GB with Flash Lite 3

I'm a Nokia N95 8GB (with Flash Lite 3 installed) owner since November 2007 and I'm totally satisfied.  When the Nokia N95 8GB software version 15.0.015 was  released, the Flash Lite 3 support was added (other improvements include WLAN and browser stability, email viewing and Nokia Maps startup) and a lot of N95 Flash Lite (and non flash lite) applications come out.  Moreover thanks to the WiFi support you can watch YouTube videos, write email and browse the web.

Even though I'm pretty sure I won't switch to a new mobile device soon,  I can't ignore the upcoming Nokia N96. The Nokia N96 is a Nokia S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 2 and a Flash Lite 3.0 enabled phone.
See this N96 video from AllAboutSymbian.

Flash Lite Group is growing day by day. Thank you !

With the Mobile World Congress starting in Barcellona I wanted to point it out how big the Flash Lite Yahoo Group has become.

The FlashLite Yahoo Group I created on May 17, 2005 reached 1678 registered members. So in less than 3 years the FlashLite group has become bigger and bigger.
I hope the interest behind Flash Lite will continue growing as well as the mobile market. Unfortunately in Italy the requests of Flash Lite training and consulting activities were not so many in the past year :(

To all the people is attending at the Mobile World Congress, have fun ! One of the guy of Comtaste is there so he'll give us some real time report from the conference (thanks Francesco) !

Opera Mobile 9.5 supports Flash Lite player

Watching this video uploaded by Opera, it seams like the new Opera 9.5 supports Flash Lite Player :

 

Opera Mobile 9.5
by operasoftware

Stream Flash Video files directly from YouTube with your N95 mobile device and Flash Lite 3

I was googling  for a tool to download and play video files (Flash Video) on my new Nokia N95 8GB when I found this free wonderful mobile application : emTube.

emTube is a Flash Lite 3 application for Symbian S60 3rd edition phones that allows you to:

# Search and browse videos on YouTube.
# Download selected videos onto your phone.
# Stream FlashVideo files directly from YouTube.
# Play local FlashVideo files.

Other features:

- Audio and position control during playback.
- Normal and full screen (portrait and landscape mode) video playback.
- Ability to use built in accelerometer to rotate video between portrait/landscape mode.

The emTube supports the Nokia N95 accellerometer plug ing to detect movement orientation of the phone and to change the user interface of the played video.
Cooool !

Is Nokia thinking of Flash Player 9 HD video support for next generation mobile devices ?

This is what I thought when I read this article "Nokia sees HD video on cell phones in a few years"  where the analyst Alan Brown of research firm Gartner said he estimated that 8 percent to 10 percent of cell phones might have HD video capability by 2010 or 2011.  And Nokia Chief Technology Officer Tero Ojanperä told Reuters in an interview :
"It's coming. Technically, we are a couple of years away.It's still a few years away."

I trust Nokia. And now that we have the Flash Player 9 with the support for H.264 video (it's the compression component of MPEG 4 also found in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD).

For Nokia, it will be enough to produce and distribute a mobile device Flash Player 9-enabled in the next two years.
Not so difficult, isnt't it ?

Flash Lite 3 Developer Edition certified on Nokia N95

Flash Lite 3 Developer edition is available for download on the Adobe site. The Flash Lite 3 has been certified by Adobe for the Nokia N95 (it's my phone :)).  Anyway it should work on any Nokia S60 3rd edition or later devices.
As you can read from the site :

This version of the Flash Lite 3 Developer Edition is not locked to the serial number of the device, you don't have to provide your IMEI number to download the installer. This installer has a startup screen indicating that it is the Flash Lite 3 Developer Edition. Devices that will ship with Flash Lite 3 pre-installed will not have this start up screen in their standalone players.

       

The first shipping devices with Flash Lite 3 pre-installed will be Nokia S60 models and will be available in Q1 2008.

The first shipping devices with Flash Lite 3 pre-installed will be DoCoMo’s 905i series, available now, and Nokia S60 models, which are scheduled to be available in Q1 2008.

SWX contest deadline today for you SWX Flash Lite application

I just want to spread the word about the contest created by Aral on SWX.

If you have a mobile project that uses SWX, don't forget to enter it in the SWX contest today. The prize is a copy of Adobe Web Premium suite, an iPod Touch, a Nabaztag/tag bunny, and a year's subscription to Lynda.com's premium library.

All you need to do to enter is to send in a link to your Flash Lite application that uses SWX along with a short description of your app.

More info and submission email address at http://swxformat.org/150

Create Symbian SIS installer for Flash Lite applications easily with Janus Symbian Lite

Janus Symbian Lite is now completely free of charge. Yes, you heard this right! Janus Symbian Lite is now is completely free of charge and free of use (even for commercial projects!). Janus Symbian Lite won't let you modify the source code of your sis file and won't let you use any external Janus method, but all the other cutting edge features of Janus Symbian are there!

These are Key Features:

* If Flash Lite is not detected on user's cellphone, it shows an info with URL to download Flash Lite from Adobe's website
* Lets you embed external files (ie images, texts and sounds) to be deployed with your application
* Lets you specify which Symbian 3rd edition capabilities you want to enable in your SIS file
* Designed and built in order to be easily updated and future proof - more and more Janus Symbian methods are in the works!
* Professional SIS Maker and SWF Launcher tool using the industry leading "Janus Engine"
* Supports versions 1.1, 2.0 and 2.1 of Adobe Flash Lite Player
* Supports Symbian S60 platform editions 1st, 2nd & 3rd
* Auto sign SIS installer with provided and developer certificate
* Lets you embed additional SIS file with yours that will be installed during the installation phase of your SIS (so you can embed the Flash Lite 2.1 player installer and have it installed for maximum
compatibility!)

you can red more here:
http://www.spaghettisort.com/janus/products-janus-symbian.html

Nokia N95 8GB ready for Flash Lite 3 testing

I did it.
Today I bought the Nokia N95 8GB Black Edition.
I was not able to wait the iPhone :)

This phone is amazing. The screen is larger than the N95 basic version and it has a lot of software and

The only con I can find is the price : 550 Euro :(

It's now time to play with real world Flash Lite 3 applications for my Nokia N95 !

Wikipedia on your Flash Lite devices

I received an email from Samir with a new Flash Lite application he developed to read and browse Wikiedia content on your mobile device :
Here is a alpha version of 'Wikipedia Mobile' , a Flash Lite 1.1 app that lets you search for a term in
wikipedia.org (English only). As it still has some bugs and loop holes, I am still working on it on my free time. It works on an ASP based API that I have created to search for a term in wikipedia page and provide the formatted out put as desired.

More details available at

http://samirshomepage.wordpress.com/2007/11/11/wikipedia-mobile-search-wikipedia-using-flash-lite-application-from-your-mobile

Is Google thinking to launch a mobile phone after the announce of Android ?

It's hard to answer but not hard to think that Google's plan is to launch its mobile device with the Android platform.

What is Android platform ?
ZDNET gives a great overview of Google Android:
the Android platform for mobile devices and the Open Handset Alliance on Monday in a move to break the lock existing carriers and phone makers have on the industry and make it as easy to use the web on mobile devices as it is on desktop computers.
With Android, Google can ensure current and future mobile-phone subscribers can see Google services, applications, and ads. Also, the announcement could pave the way for a Google-branded phone that would give the company a direct connection to consumers, even more than the ubiquitous search bar. And don't count out a Google phone just yet.

So Android could only get google's brand out there like Miner said.
Now I want to see the amazing things I can develop for mobile devices  with this new platform.

Google, consider that I used to develop with Flash Lite ;) Will Android give me more power and tools ?

BlueskyNorth is hiring a tented Flash and FlashLite Developer

I found this post on the Flash Lite Yahoo group, so I want to pass it along :

BlueskyNorth  is  currently looking to expand our team with the addition of a Flash / Flash Lite Developer to assist the Technical Director and Creative Team on a wide variety of projects for both our growing
portfolio and a stellar roster of clients. If you think you have the skills we are looking for, we look forward to hearing from you.

Job Spec: Flash / Flash Lite Developer

BlueskyNorth Ltd. is currently seeking a Flash / Flash Lite Developer to assist the Technical Director and fellow developers on a wide variety of projects for both our growing portfolio and a stellar
roster of clients. You'll be working with a team of producers, designers and animators to create world-class rich games, applications and other compelling, entertaining small screen experiences.

Responsibilities

Develop games/applications for mobile Participate in project brainstorms
Write and review technical specifications Self-manage your tasks and time
Create frameworks, templates and docum entation for others to use

Requirements

2+ years developing Flash content, games and applications (university experience considered)
Motivated research and development in new technologies ActionScript 2.0
Object-Oriented Programming exposure
Ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with teammates
Motivated self-starter who likes working on fast-paced projects
Good English written and verbal communication skills

Ideal

Bsc in Computer Science or equivalent
Flash Lite development experience
XML and XSLT
Server-side development (PHP, MySql)
Game and/or application programming knowledge in other languages
(Java, Symbian)

In addition to an exciting future in a growing, dynamic company, we
offer a competitive salary and the chance to work with charismatic
team in a central Newcastle location.

Addtional information and how to contact, here.

MAX Barcelona 2007 Flash Lite application

Paul Lamonby sent me an email with this great news :

Download the MAX Barcelona 2007 Flash Lite mobile phone session guide.
Developed in Flash Lite 1.1 to work on all available handsets, the guide has
quick and easy access to all sessions over the 4 days, with links to a
conference center map and further details about each session. Dont worry if
your phone clock is not set to Barcelona time, the guide will adjust to the
local time to show you exactly what sessions are on whenever you need to
know."

Download MAX Barcelona 2007 Flash Lite for free !

Flash Lite 3 revealed at MAX Conference (plus Flash Lite 3.0 Update for Device Central CS3 and Flash CS3)

Flash Lite 3 has been announced at the MAX Conference. You can have all the information on the Adobe Flash Lite page. These are some of the new features :

• FLV support : The Adobe Flash Lite 3 runtime supports FLV, the most popular video format on the Internet, best known from popular sites such as CNN, YouTube, and MySpace. With Flash Lite 3, users can engage with web video on their devices just as they do on the desktop, either by streaming video or by downloading video clips as standalone applications or when integrated with a mobile web browser. Flash Lite 3 includes support for On2 VP6 and Sorenson video codecs.
• Improved web browsability with support for most Flash 8 content
• Faster performance
• MMI extensions for UI design
• Integrated authoring environment
• Multiplatform support

Have a look also to these links :

• Compare versions of Flash Lite
• Flash Lite architecture diagram
• Flash Lite 3.0 Update for Flash CS3
• Download the Flash Lite 3.0 Update for Device Central CS3 to author, test, and publish Flash Lite 3.0 mobile content.
  
  

MoCarbon, an educational mobile Flash Lite wallpaper by Moket

Moket has released a new product under the new "MoCarbon" brand name :

These wallpapers are aimed at educating users about the wasted electricity, and associated additional carbon in the atmosphere, that comes from leaving their phone chargers plugged into the power socket when the phone does not require charging. They're also just cool animations for your mobile wallpaper.

Great job mate ! And congrats to be one of the 50 coolest australian innovative company :)

Flash Lite Friday Tip of the Day

Scott has started a new initiative based on the Flash Lite Friday Digest, condensed and organized set of links that help users to get a weekly overview on the Flash Lite mobile world: Flash Lite Friday Tip of the Day.

The Flash Lite Friday Tip of the Day is a post where Scott posts a piece of code or tip every Friday in regards to Flash Lite (1.1, 2.x, 3.x) or Flash Mobile.
This week Scott published the third tip sice the beginning :

• Flash Lite Friday - Tip of the Day #1
• Flash Lite Friday - Tip of the Day #2
• Flash Lite Friday - Tip of the Day #3

Great idea Scott, as usual !

Nokia E51 is Flash Lite 2.0 enabled not Flash Lite 2.1

Some days ago I posted about the announcement of Nokia E51. In that post I wrote Nokia E51 was Flash Lite 2.1 enabled but I went wrong ;)

It's now confirmed by Nokia E51 specifications that the mobile device is Flash Lite 2.0 enabled (thanks to Alessandro)

Getting Started with Flash Lite, a free guide to start developing mobile apps in FlashLite

Keldon Rush of  Smashing Ideas Inc wrote a great guide about Flash Lite :

Getting Started with Flash Lite (pdf)

As he wrote this resource is intended for anyone interested in Flash Lite and the process of creating mobile applications and content with Adobe's Creative Suite 3 and is primarily geared to the Flash Lite novice / beginner.

The table of contents is made up of :

Flash Lite Overview: What, Why, and Where
What is Flash Lite?
Why Do I Care?
The User Experience (UX)
Addressable Market: The Opportunity & Key Stats
Technology Landscape: Competitors, Comparisons, and Coopetition
Cost Lite: Saving Time & Money
2. Concept to Cash: Design, Development, and Distribution
Brainstorm, Design, & Prototype Iterations
Model, Diagram, Document, & Develop
Document
Develop
QA & Test
Mobile Specific QA
The Flash Lite Ecosystem – Show Me The Money
3. The Tools: Flash CS3 & Device Central
Flash CS3 – An Overview
Device Central – A Mobile Developer's Best Friend
4. Getting Started: Tooling Up & Creating
Download This
Adobe Mobile Developer Program: Sign Up
Hello Mobile World: Creating Your First Flash Lite Project
5. Best Practices
Mobile UX Considerations
Remember The Memory: Mobile Code Optimizations
Some Flash Lite 1.1 Best Practices
6. See Also: Further Reference
Related Editorial Content and White Papers
Available Training
Links
Flash Lite Blogs & Communities

Nokia 6301 (Flash Lite 2 enabled) can make call over the internet with the UMA technology

That's a great news. Nokia has announced its first  mobile device that uses the UMA technology to make call over the internet. The Nokia 6301 is a Flsh Lite 2 enable device.

Via CNET News: Nokia, the world's top cell phone maker, unveiled on Thursday a new phone featuring unlicensed mobile access, or UMA, technology. Nokia said this new UMA model, the 6301, will begin shipping in Europe in the fourth quarter for about $322 (230 euros), before subsidies and taxes.
UMA handsets can make calls over the Internet when they are in range of an unlicensed wireless network, such as Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Nokia E51 (Flash Lite 2.1 enabled) announced by Nokia

Nokia announced today the E51 mobile devices. The Nokia E51 is Flash Lite 2.1 enabled and has great features :

- A home screen including user-selected icons to the most used applications

- One Touch keys with one-click access to key functionalities including email, contacts, calendar and the home screen

- Set-up wizards offering step-by-step guidance for setting up email accounts, configuring Internet calling and accessing wireless local area networks

- Integration with a wide range of business email solutions, including Nokia Intellisync Wireless Email and Mail for Exchange to communicate with Microsoft Exchange Server, and consumer email

- Streamlined email reading experience with easy access to attachments

- Dedicated Email key on the front cover, indicator light for new email, and a preview window to the latest email on the home screen to help keep up with email when on the move

It's a quad band phone with the  S60 3rd Edition Feature Pack 1 (S60 v3.1). I think it's one of the smallest smartphone ever made : 114.8 x 46 x 12 mm.
Also the price is very affordable; the Nokia E51 will be available in Q4 2007 for around 350 Euros.
That's great !

Flash Media Server 3 and Flash Lite 3 mobile delivery: what I was waiting for

The IBC conference is over and Adobe announced great things. One for all the new Flash Media Server 3 that supports the following features :

• RTMPE : Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) will be enhanced with new, higher performance encryption to help to secure streamed media and communication.
•   H.264 support : Adobe Flash Media Server 3 will support streaming of industry standard H.264 and HE-AAC video and audio content to Flash Player, AIR and Adobe Media Player. FMS3 will also support enhanced seeking forH.264 content, which means you, can seek to any point within the video and start streaming quickly.
•   Improved live streaming
• Flex 3 and Flash CS3 support: The documentation and help systems have also been completely updated to support ActionScript 3 in Flex and Flash CS3.
• Stream republishing from server to server (stream push)
•   New C++ based plugin architecture

But my best feature is the mobile video delivery to Flash Lite 3 :  Adobe Flash Media Server will support both pre-recorded and live streaming to the Flash Lite 3 mobile platform. The same video
experience in the browser can now be delivered to mobile devices supporting Flash Lite 3.

You can't imagine how many clients in Italy (TIM, Three, Wind and so on) asked me for having the mobile support. And now we have !
Thanks Adobe !!   

Flash Lite (and iPhone) allows to keep up-to-date with the Rugby world

Chris Blair, Director / Mobile & Devices Producer at Zodal, sent mail announcing their last Flash Lite application :

Zodal released this yesterday after acouple of days trailing with-in the local New Zealand market.

http://www.rugbymate.co.nz

It's a cool mobile tool for keeping up-to-date with the Rugby world cup that is happening in Paris in a few days time?

Not sure if anyone on the list plays rugby or knows much about the game of rugby - but we developed the mobile tools in Flash Lite for Series 60 phones and we did a Rails version for the iPhone.

The touch screen version for the iPhone is getting some good feedback from the few people in NZ who already have iPhones.

Getting the latest game reviews with GamesFlash Flash Lite applications

Christopher Caleb sent me an email to point out his new Flash Lite application : GameFlash.

GamesFlash is free and delivers the latest console and handheld games reviews straight to you phone.
GamesFlash is available for Symbian Series 60 3^rd edition devices and currently supports phones with a screen resolution of 240x320. It’s compatible with the following devices (the list of compatible devices is growing all the time): Nokia 5700, 6110 Navigator, 6120 Classic, 6121 Classic, 6290, N76 and N95.

Here is some additional info:

• Console and handheld reviews delivered straight to your phone.
• Get the latest games reviews, previews and news.
• GamesFlash is FREE - you only pay your phone network's standard data charges when downloading articles.
• Slick graphics and great design.
• GamesFlash is a Flash Lite 2.0 application.

 You can download GamesFlash from Handango: http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?productId=211807

 
Some screen grabs of GamesFlash that can be downloaded from: http://www.gamesflashweb.com/press

Flash Lite Games Catalog for Nokia Mobile Devices

I know it's not a daily news but I wanted to point it out because it's a great announcement for the Flash Lite ecosystem :

Shockwave to Deliver Shockwave Minis to Nokia Mobile Gamers

“Initially, Shockwave will make available more than 20 games from the Shockwave Minis catalog, including Downhill Train and newly created games such as Happy Hours. Games based on popular MTV Networks properties will launch in the future. Shockwave Minis are being made available on Nokia devices in 24 markets*

“Nokia is pleased to offer the Shockwave Minis line-up of Flash Lite games to our customers,” said Damien D’Souza, head of branded content, Forum Nokia - EMEA. “Shockwave Minis make it easy for mobile handset owners to jump in and experience a fun, casual game playing experience, at a great value, with intuitive delivery through our Content Discoverer Client.”

Thanks to Alessandro for the link.

Flash Lite device information added to the WURFL Device Description Repository

Luca Passani, one of the two creator behind the WURFL system, send me an email with a great announce for the Flash Lite community :

Dear Flash Liters, as promised, I have added FlashLite support into
WURFL. This has been made possible thanks to Alessandro Pace (and the
FLUaprofiles work he has done) and Jonathan Arnold of Break Design.
You can download the new FL-enhanced WURFL here:

http://wurfl.sourceforge.net/wurfl.zip

More info in the message that follows.
I am looking forwards to receiving more FL device information as FL gets
installed on more and more devices.

How to Prototype Applications with Flash:practical issues of developing with Adobe Flash Lite

I don't know if this was posted by someone because this document came out when I was on vacation last week :)

Forum Nokia has released the following PDF :

S60 Platform: How to Prototype Applications with Flash

Learn how to develop UI prototypes for S60 mobile devices with Adobe Flash Lite. Although the focus is on the S60 platform, most of the techniques in this document are applicable to other mobile platforms, too.

This is a good documentation that Flash Lite and no Flash Lite developers should take care of !

Flash Stocks:Flash lite files for free download

A new website for downloading free Flash Lite contents exist : FlashStocks.

Dmitry Arhipov , the creator of the initiative, sent me an email to explain what's behind FlashStock :

The main idea is share to users Flash lite files for free download. Think that it will be great opportunity for promoting flash lite application and give to users possibility to check this out.
He’ll going to post here best FREE Flash Lite wallpapers and screensavers ever and want to invite you to help me in that field by adding some of your applications or free applications from your personal collection.

So if you want to share a Flash Lite application send it to hippers[at]gmail[dot]com

Learn how the Nokia S60 user interface works

Nokia has released two pdfs useful for all Flash Lite designers :

S60_UI_Style_Guide_v1_3_en.pdf
S60_3rd_Edition_FP2_UI_Style_Guide_v1_0_en.pdf

Via scriptamanentgroup  : The first document describes the new features introduced in S60 3rd Edition and S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 1, but it is also valid for earlier S60 platform releases. The second gives an overview of the S60 user interface in S60 3rd Edition, Feature Pack 2.

No Flash Lite or Flash support for iPhone !

Ok, it's now official. The iPhone won't support Flash Lite or the Flash Player as  plug in of its  Safari browser.

There's a post by Bill Perry about the lack  of Flash support for the iPhone :

Since the iPhone went on sale yesterday evening in the US, there have been several posts about the status of Flash support for the iPhone. I wanted to have this specific post to discuss the lack of Flash support for the iPhone and to provide some real world examples.

Have Flash Lite contents to deliver ?Join the Moket Content Network

Moket is looking for Flash Lite contents to put into the Moket Content Network.
This is a great initiative by Dale ! (via Alessandro)

Nokia E-series (with Flash Lite embedded) are available across USA

It was a news published on the Nokia Press Release yesterday :                                  

                            

Nokia Eseries business devices broadly available in U.S.
                             
Nokia today announces the availability of Nokia Eseries business devices in the U.S. through a variety of channels, allowing both business and individual users to obtain enterprise-grade dual-mode devices - including the new Nokia E61i and Nokia E65 - in this market.

The Nokia E-series are the competitor line of Blackberry devices.

Flash Lite tutorial series on Sony Ericsson Developer Center: using Adobe Device Central CS3

On the Sony Ericsson  Developer Center there are some contents dedicated to Flash Lite.
Past week it has been published the :

Using Adobe Device Central CS3

This tutorial series is authored by Chris Petty, Communications Director at BlueskyNorth Ltd, a Smashing Ideas company

Nokia N95 (with Flash Lite 2 aboard) vs iPhone

The second videos of the Nokia N95 vs iPhone series came out.

The Nokia N95 is an incredible mobile device  and it gives the support of Flash Lite 2 embedded in its browser ! That's amazing !

Watch the commercial video (via SymbianGuru  and Nokia S60 blog) :

The future of mobile games by Nokia

Found this article via Miikka at Aniway about the future of mobile games by Nokia.

One of the interesting reply to the question about the obstacles the industry faces to reach the growth potential that’s been forecasted (ie, growing from $3.3 billion this year to $10 billion by 2009)
Mark Ollila, of Nokia,  answered that the main problems are :

- mobile payments for buying mobile contents : at the moment the experience to buy content is hardand users don't trust about the quality of the contents
- finding the contents : it's not very easy for the end users (not geeks or web users) to find the contents

The same problems exist in the Flash Lite field where people don't have easy channels where to  download Flash Lite  contents (games, wallpapers, ringtones, applications ...).
Then you have to consider that many mobile users don't know (and don't have the capability)  wheter their mobile device has the Flash Lite embedded !

Adobe is trying to solve the problem and the Verizon's deal is a clear message of this.
But it needs time ..... a long time !

The answer of Mark ends with :

Nokia is focusing on create an end-to-end solution which allows you to find the content, see reviews, get imagery, and then you can even try the content before you actually pay for it.  All of those things will actually allow Nokia to build trust with the consumers so that they start feeling comfortable paying for the content.

And it's great ! Nokia

Create icons (at different sizes) for your Flash Lite and J2ME applications

When you develop a Flash Lite or J2ME mobile applications, you'll need to create icons for your app. Although many developers think that it's not important, having an icon associated to your application is important and it helps the user to start up your app faster !

According to different model of mobile devices, you'll have to create some custom icons at  custom sizes.
During the last mobile project I worked in Comtaste, I created a small note with a list of different size for mobile icons my graphic designer had to create.

The project was developed in J2ME (it was MobyMobile, a client and server service to optimize web contents for reading them on you're mobile devices. It's still in italian, but we're about to release it in english too) but  you can use this list of icons  for Flash Lite projects as well :

46x46 px
46x48
53x53
52x52
64x64

Then also consider the smallest icon size :

16x16
24x24

Twitter on you mobile with Flash Lite 2,J2ME, WAP, XHTML-MP, Windows Mobile, via SMS

Twitter is everywhere. The mobile version of Twitter comes out for a lot of devices with many different technologies : J2ME, WAP, Flash Lite, XHTML-MP, Windows Mobile, via SMS.

A special mention goes to FlashLite Twitter - the  Adobe FlashLite 2.1 based version.

On the next page all the list of mobile based version of Twitter.

Will we see Flash Lite 2 on the next Nokia N80 firmware update ?

The Nokia N80 is a great phone. Cool design, good features ... But if you listen to N80's owners you'll hear about a lot of bugs in the firmware.

This is the main reason that brings Nokia to release a firmware update for the N80 to fix bugs (via Symbian Freak).

As you probably know N80 has Flash Lite 1.1, so it could be great to have an upgrade to the Flash Lite from 1.1 to 2.0.

Chumby will be the first device to support Flash Lite 3 (with streaming audio and video)

This is a great news. Today I received an email from Michael Coleman of Chumby Industries that wrote :

The production chumbys are on their way! The design is sleeker, the device is faster, and it will likely be the first device on the market that supports FlashLite 3, including streaming audio and video!

That's coool !
Chumby rocks and soon you'll see some Chumby contents developed by Comtaste !

iRiver Clix 2 with Flash Lite 2 embedded. How does it work ?

The iRiver Clix 2 has recently been shipped in  US. As you probably know it has the Flash Lite 2 aboard.

I'm evaluating to buy it but I first wanted to have some feedback from a Flash Lite developer point of view  :)

I've just read this post.
Scott I bet you have it  ;) How did  you find it ?

Nokia's Mobile Webserver. What does it mean for FlashLite developers ?

Nokia is about to release its mobile server.
The primary goals of this project were to bring a full-fledged webserver to S60 and to make a webserver running on a mobile phone accessible from the Internet using any web browser (other info on Tommi S60 blog).

For FlashLite developers it gives the ability to develop data oriented applications that call server side Python script.
That's because the Nokia Mobile Server runs on Python !

Darla Mack had the opportunity to test it and give us some great information :

Nokia's Mobile Web allows users to:

• Post blog entries for web visitors to view and leave comments.
• Share calendar entries from your device to web viewers.
• Send SMS messages from the web to the MWS user.
• Sign MWS users guestbook.
• View images on the web from the gallery of the MWS user's device.
• View phone log of missed calls.
• Look up contacts phone numbers.

Read her full Nokia's Mobile Webserver post.

Does the Nokia 7900, the next S40, have Flash Lite aboard ?

First images of the new Nokia 7900, the next phone of the S40 family.
I didn't understand or find any information about the Flash Lite player.

The design of the phone is futuristic but the camera has just 1.3 MP and it has no WLan connection.

Some photos of the new Nokia N76 with Flash Lite 2.0 embedded

AllAboutSymbian published some photos of the new Nokia N76 mobilde devices.

With its 320x240 screen size the Nokia N76 has the Flash Lite 2.0 embedded, moreover, it features Java MIDP 2.0 support with additional Java API’s, USB 2.0, Bluetooth 2.0 and MicroSD memory card support.

Nokia N73 firmware update 4 has the Flash Lite 2.1

I found this comment on my New firmware update for the Sony Ericsson's p990i with Flash Lite embedded :

Yesterday Nokia released the 4.0 firwmare for Nokia N73. It seems that have Flash Lite updated to 2.1!

I don't have the Nokia N73, but I'd like to have a confirm about this new.
It'd be great to update Flash Lite to 2.1 when updating the mobile firmware !

New firmware update for the Sony Ericsson's p990i with Flash Lite embedded

The Sony Ericsson's  p990i with the Flash Lite 1.1 preinstalled and Opera 8, has a major new firmware update.

You can download the firmware usign the Sony Ericsson Update Service

I'm not an owner of that mobile phone but I'm very curios to know if with the new firmware update, it will also get an update to Flash Lite 2.0 (or 2.1).

It would be great to have the possibility to get a Flash Lite upgrade when upgrading the firmware of the phone.
But I think that that's not in the plan of the Adobe licensing for Flash Lite.
Hope to go wrong with that !

Sony Ericsson's W910 with Flash Lite 2 aboard

Sony Ericsson announced its W910 Walkman phone model. A mobile phone born for entertainment : music, 3D games, video and high-speed web access  and includes a new Shake control for game play or selecting music tracks and the new Walkman feature SensMe, a new way to browse music files using tempo and style.

If you read the technical table of the phone you'll see, under the Animation topic, that the phone has  Flash Lite 2.0 aboard.  Frankly speaking it's not very clear if  the phone supports the Flash Lite 2.0 or it has it embedded.

The W910 is based on Sony Ericsson's Java Platform 8 (JP-8), supporting Mobile Services Architecture (MSA) JSR 248, the next-generation Java umbrella standard.

The W910 will be available during Q4 2007.

Flash Lite events: Mobile UI and Best Practices for Performance and Memory eSeminar

I want to spread the word about some new Flash Lite events that Alessandro Pace pointed out :

• Mobile UI, Stand out with more focus on graphic design (June 25, 2007 12pm EST)
  This session will be presented by Allysson Lucca, the Project Manager at LuccaCo, a design studio specializing in graphics for internet, multimedia and mobile projects in Curitiba, Brazil.
• Best Practices for Performance and Memory for Flash Lite (June 27, 2007 9:00am PST)
  Join us for a live, interactive, one-hour eSeminar where Prashant Panigrahi, tech support engineer for the Adobe Mobile and Devices business unit, will present on all the tips and tricks to overcome memory and CPU bottleneck issues of mobile devices with Flash Lite applications and content.
• Sonopia MVNO Flash Lite client application (July 2, 2007 12pm EST)
  This session will be presented by Alex Tur who works for Sonopia as Senior Flash Lite Engineer - Mobile Client for MVNO services.

Wibree: the new Bluetooth by Nokia

While we're still waiting for Bluetooth support in Flash Lite, Nokia announced the new generation of Bluetooth to connect devices such as watches and heart monitors.

Via CNET : Handset maker Nokia's ultralow-power short-range wireless technology is to be developed as a new version of Bluetooth to connect devices such as watches and heart monitors, the company said Tuesday.
Nokia's agreement to offer the technology as the basis for an ultralow-power Bluetooth standard should help speed its adoption and encourage acceptance rather than be a competing technology, the Bluetooth special-interest group said.
Nokia's Wibree short-range radio link uses a fraction of the power of previous systems and can hook up devices with small batteries or power capacity.

AdobeLive Conference Guide on your Flash Lite 2 mobile phone

Before leaving for Milan to partecipate to the AdobeLive 2007 Conference, I want to announce a Flash Lite 2 application created by Comtaste :

AdobeLive 2007 Conference Guide

It's a mobile conference guide that helps you in :

- browsing the Agenda of the event
- searching the sessions and the speakers you want to attend
-  keeping updated on What's On sessions (synch to your mobile clock)

See you at the AdobeLive 2007 in Milan !!

Flash Lite 2.x component framework: Shuriken

The  Boston Adobe Mobile and Devices User Group will host an eSeminar on May 14th at 12PM EST (check your local time).
Jesse Warden will present his Flash Lite 2.x component framework, Shuriken

Here is what Jesse has to say about his project: "I've just uploaded some examples for Shuriken (http://code.google.com/p/shurikencomponents/ ), a Flash Lite 2.x component framework. The documentation isn't done, but figured most people would be able to do just fine using the examples. If you'd like to contribute, lemme know your Gmail username. Only rule is whatever you check-in must compile. If you wanna write docs, or something else, that's cool too. Finally, if you have any suggestions and/or feature requests, we're all ears."

Check the site for more information: http://www.flashmobilegroup.org/?p=112

Launched the Lordi Flash Lite mobile Magazine and game

Aniway launched the free mobile application made in FLash Lite :

As a joint operation between Lordi, Provisual / Fanplugged, and us (Aniway Ltd.), the Lordi Flash Lite mobile magazine and game have been made with Flash Lite 1.1.

In the launch phase we are supporting Nokia mobile devices that come with a preinstalled Flash Lite 1.1. or 2.x (starting with 34 phone models).

Great job guys ;)

Read its Lordi Flash Lite mobile magazine and game launched full post.

First online meeting for the UK Mobile User Group

I wanted just to pass the information about the first online meeting scheduled by the Adobe UK Mobile User Group :

We have the first eSeminar for the UK AMaD tomorrow at 5pm GMT London.

Please would you be able to let your members know and help drive up a bit more attendance.

This is a link the UG site with more details --- www.flashmobilegroup-uk.org

Flash Lite for BREW Publisher for Flash CS3 Professional on Adobe Labs

Adobe has released the Flash Lite for BREW Publisher for Flash CS3 Professional prerelease on the Adobe Labs :

The Flash Lite Publisher for BREW lets you publish your Flash Lite content to the native BREW application format (MOD and MIF files) for testing on supported BREW handsets. Also included in this installation are files necessary for previewing your Flash Lite application in the BREW Simulator, part of the BREW 3.1 SDK (a separate download and installation).