Archive for Mobile Development
October 17, 2007 at 4:09 pm · Filed under Flash, Mobile Development, Tech
A few days ago I received an email that it was finally my turn to order a Chumby as part of the insider's launch, and today I placed my order.
What is a Chumby? It's a really small wi-fi networked computer that looks like an odd bedside alarm clock. It has a LCD touchscreen, is almost completely open source, can be extended/customized, and you can make Flash Lite 3 apps to run on it. The Flash Lite 3 was one of the big sellers for me - I'm excited to see what I can do with it, especially since I haven't spent much time developing with Flash Lite before. Oh, and it'll work perfectly with SWX!
Engadget has a nice hands-on post from a pre-production model with lots of photos, but here are some stats from the Chumby website:
Wi-fi connectivity • access to the free Chumby Network • 3.5" LCD color touchscreen • two external USB 2.0 full-speed ports • 350 MHz ARM processor • 64 MB SDRAM • 64 MB NAND flash ROM • stereo 2W speakers • headphone output • squeeze sensor • accelerometer (motion sensor) • leather casing • AC adapter included
I'll be sure to post more details and photos once it arrives.
October 5, 2007 at 4:32 pm · Filed under Actionscript 2, Adobe, CS3, Flash, Mobile Development, Open Source Flash, PHP, Remoting
Aral Balkan has just announced swxformat.org/contest which seems like a great way to spread the word about SWX and get more developers trying out the new project.
The competition has three categories: Web, Mobile, and API, and each of the three winners will receive a prize package worth almost $4,000. Not a shabby deal at all. The prize packages include a copy of Adobe CS 3 Web Premium Bundle, a one year premium subscription to Lynda.com, a Nabaztag/tag wi-fi bunny, and an iPod Touch. I have a Nabaztag/tag, and winning one of these alone is worth a few hours of work!
If you have been following the SWX project at all, you already know that I have used SWX on a couple of projects and that I am a huge fan of its simplicity. It just works, and it makes your life as a developer easier. What's not to like? This contest is the perfect way to give it a shot and possibily win some cool stuff.
More details on the contest can be found on the SWX site.
September 19, 2007 at 4:11 pm · Filed under 360|Flex, Actionscript 3, AIR (Apollo), Flash, Flex, Mobile Development
I just watched a video on YouTube of the AIR iPhone application with Ribbit's VOIP Flex Component placing and receiving calls. Who needs a real iPhone when you can just fire up an AIR app and talk all you want?
Seriously though, there is some very cool stuff going on with AS3, Flex, and Flash these days. I can only imagine where this will go if Intel and Adobe do indeed get AIR running on mobile devices. It could have the potential to turn wireless carriers into data-only providers -- mobile broadband services.
I would highly suggest when the onAIR tour rolls through your town you check it out. I'll bet they may even have some more Ribbit info they could demo for you while it is in closed beta.
September 19, 2007 at 4:00 pm · Filed under Adobe, AIR (Apollo), Mobile Development
JD blogged today about a presentation Intel gave at the Intel Developers Forum where they formally announced that Adobe AIR would run on mobile phones with Intel's new low-power x86 mobile chips.
While this is a very nice addition, I doubt this means the end of Flash Lite as there will still be phones with less processing power for quite awhile. However, it is a very welcomed step in the right direction.
There is more information about the presentation on PC Magazine and ZDnet's websites.
September 11, 2007 at 5:01 pm · Filed under Actionscript 2, Flash, Flash on the Beach, Mobile Development, Open Source Flash, PHP, Remoting
Today Aral Balkan released SWX 1.0 for PHP, his answer to Flash Remoting. I have been waiting patiently for this release, as I am currently in the midst of building out two larger-scale projects with remoting and feel much better about using a 1.0 (read: non-beta) tool. Overall, SWX has been a joy to use. Aral has certainly accomplished his main task: simplify the whole remoting process from setup to development to deployment. Setup is as easy as copying the directory to your server, and development is much more kind since he re-wrote the AMFPHP service browser and debugger in Flex, while adding a few features to make it generally more usable. Using the services in your AS2 projects also couldn't be more simple. And to top it all off it is completely open source (is anything Aral does not open source?).
I was initially concerned about performance under heavy loads, but Aral was quick to give a test case and show that even with 250 concurrent hits to the gateway, it should still perform. It would take an extremely busy site to get 250 concurrent hits to the gateway (note that the gateway only gets hit when there is a service call).
My only recommendation at this point is to release a ZIP of only the files you need to deploy to the server. While I don't mind having all the graphics for the project and Flex source for the service browser and debugger, I don't want to upload those files to my server and digging through all the folders to figure out what is needed can be a drag.
If you haven't already, I highly suggest you give SWX a go. You can even use the public services that Aral has posted -- so you don't even need your own gateway setup to get started. Oh, I should also note that because the SWF file that SWX produces is Flash Lite 2.0 and 2.1. compatible, it can be viewed on a good number mobile devices.
Want to learn more? See Aral speak at one of several conferences in the next few months.
A huge thanks to Aral for the hard work!
I'll be sure to post links to the projects as soon as they are completed, along with additional thoughts and tips on working with SWX.
June 25, 2007 at 7:34 pm · Filed under Flash, Mobile Development, Tech
Chumby posted launch plans and final product features on their corporate blog yesterday, complete with an announcement that the device will be the first device to run Flash Lite 3.
The device will cost $180 fully-delivered, no fees or extra subscriptions, which I think is brilliant. Similar devices, such as the Nabaztag/tag Rabbit cost about the same, but require a $7/month service fee to do anything custom.
If anyone from Chumby reads this -- I'd love to be on the list mentioned in your blog for those who will get a chance to buy the initial release!
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