Earl Ferguson's Life and Times with Technology.

IS IT FACETIME • OR FLASHTIME?

2010-07-20T17:26:00.000-07:00

Today Adobe showed off some of the things Adobe Air 2.5 will be able to do on mobile. What they showed off was FlashTime(just a little poke at the iPhone 4's FaceTime). It's really an app that all of us Flash/Flex developers have been able to create for a while but on mobile. What's great is it shows the power of the Flash Platform, demonstrating the application running on mobile devices and on the desktop. It not only had video calling but also a chat feature. All I have to say is I love Air, I love Android, I love Stratus, and that I could have created Apples iPhone 4 FaceTime in a day using the Flash Platform.

FLASH WITH A • 3D FUTURE

2010-07-08T17:58:00.000-07:00

So there has been some talk about the "Flash Player 3D Future." Adobe Product Manager Thibault Imbert said "What kind of [3D] API? True textured z-buffered triangles ? GPU acceleration? Even better? What I can say is forget what you have seen before, it is going to be big." Ok I'm dying to know the future. I might have to go get Doc Brown so I can get the information now...Or tomorrow. Or yesterday. Whatever. I just don't want to have to wait for Adobe Max to find out about the new 3d features for this next version of Flash Player

ADOBE FLEX IS • BECOMING A HERO

2010-07-01T09:37:00.000-07:00

Adobe has posted it's plans for a later version of the Flex SDK (version 4.5) code-named Hero. Before, Adobe planned on using Slider, basically an optimized version of the Flex SDK for mobile experiences. Well, they decided to scrap that idea citing that because of the optimization of Flash Player 10.1 and the powerful processors of the newly created mobile phones, there would be no need to create this separate Flex entity (Slider).

We will soon be seeing some nightly-builds with some new classes like:

MobileApplication
PersistenceManager
View
ViewNavigator
Actionbar

This will really help Flex Developers ease into the Mobile Application world. Thanks Adobe for the work, but lets get it right ok.

You can read the statement put out by the Adobe Flex Team here.

YOUTUBE • IS IT FLASH OR HTML 5 VIDEO? OR BOTH?

2010-06-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

There was an article posted today by YouTube about how html 5 video is not replacing flash video on Youtube. Now the same reason why YouTube can not completely use html 5 video, is the same reason why it would be suicide for any company other to fully do it, at least for true streaming content (not http stream) and creating and advanced video experience. This is a really great article because it explains the technical reason why it wouldn't work out. This is the same thing that flash developers have been saying for months (exactly the same). I love Google no bull-crap just technology.

See full YouTube article here.

Amazon Offer
----------------------------------
Flash Professional CS5 and Flash Catalyst CS5 For Dummies

GOOGLE'S • FROZEN TREAT

2010-06-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

Looks like the Nexus One is getting an update to Android 2.2 code-named Froyo. So I guess we'll get a live look and Flash Player 10.1 on mobile.

Get Froyo here.

View Google's Blog post here.

Amazon Offer
------------------------------------------
Google Nexus One Unlocked Phone

FLASH DEBUGGER COMES CRASHING • IN FIREFOX 3.6.4

2010-06-26T08:29:00.000-07:00

Some people may have notice that when using Flash Player Debugger in Firefox 3.6.4 it crashes the browser. This is caused by the Firefox hangup detection. But there is something you can do.

type about:config in the firefox address bar
search for dom.ipc.plugins.timeoutSecs
double click and change the value to -1

This should get you going.

Firefox For Dummies

CHROME GETS • A LITTLE MORE FLASH

2010-06-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday, with their latest beta, Google has officially built the Flash Player directly into the Chrome Browser. This all benefits the user. Better security easier updates it's all great. Good job Google and Adobe. Now if only Firefox does the same thing. view the PC World article

Google Nexus One Unlocked Phone

A FLASH • OF BELIEF

2010-06-24T18:45:00.000-07:00

Today I saw this cool video posted by Lee Brimelow. It's inspired by a Tapout commerical being shown on SpikeTV.

I would have to say very cool post by Lee. Also, checkout Lee's cool tutorials at gotoandlearn.

Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Classroom in a Book

A LITTLE •TASTE OF FROYO

2010-06-23T16:06:00.000-07:00

So today is the day. Google has dropped some code.

Yes google has released the source code for it's lastest SDK release, Android 2.2 code-named "Froyo"

There are some things I can't wait to checkout when Froyo is on my phone:

Flash 10.1 and AIR support
Portable Hotspot and USB Tethering
Improved Speed, (2x-5x) speed boost
App Storage on SD memory
Music Sync
Web-based Android Market

These are going to be some fun times guys. Sit down for the ride.

splash Intense 5400mAh External Battery Pack for iPhone (3G 3GS), iPod Touch (1G 2G 3G), Motorola Droid, HTC Android Phones (Evo, Incredible, G1, Nexus One), Blackberry (9630, 9700, 9550)

FLASH 10.1 • IS MOBILE

2010-06-22T12:01:00.000-07:00

Unless you are dead or living under a rock. Or dead under a rock, you probably have heard about the releasing of flash 10.1 to mobile platform providers. This is wonderful news and it also means more work for us flash and flex developers. Hey bring it on I'm ready.

It's funny. There is only one platform provider missing from this list :). Even Limo and MeeGo are on the list. It’s going to be great to see it on the next release of Windows devices.

Adobe Summary:
It's. Already one of the top free apps on Android™ Market today, Flash Player 10.1 will be available as a final production release for smart phones and tablets once users are able to upgrade to Android 2.2 “Froyo.” Devices supporting “Froyo” and Flash Player 10.1 are expected to include the Dell Streak, Google Nexus One, HTC Evo, HTC Desire, HTC Incredible, DROID by Motorola, Motorola Milestone, Samsung Galaxy S and others. Flash Player 10.1 was also released to mobile platform partners to be supported on devices based on Android, BlackBerry, webOS, future versions of Windows® Phone, LiMo, MeeGo and Symbian OS, and is expected to be made available via over-the-air downloads and to be pre-installed on smart phones, tablets and other devices in the coming months.

http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/201006/06222010FlashPlayerAvailability.html

Flash Builder 4 and Flex 4 Bible

LITL •UNBOXING

2010-06-21T13:52:00.000-07:00

I love the packing for the Litl Webbook.

Litl Webbook |Internet Computer for the Home

A LITTLE • ABOUT LITL

2010-06-20T11:06:00.000-07:00

So I just recently received my Litl. Now for those who don't know what the Litl Webbook is...Well it's a laptop that accesses all it's content from the web. Litl just makes computing for the normal user really easy.

So why do I love Litl? Well, one they support flash 10.1, and that's always good. Two they support the flash/flex developer (actually every developer). The Litl Team has been very active in the flash community, I saw them at the Flash and the City conference and they are virtually doing a U.S. tour of the flash/flex developer meetups.

So I support Litl because Litle supports us, and when I make applications Litl will always be in the equation of devices I want to target (I'm actively creating an app for the Litl now). I feel that all the developers within the flash community should also be giving Litl a little support (actually a lot ).

You want to know more about Litl Webook. (check it out)

If you want to develop for the Litl Webook. (the dev center).

THE BINDS • OF FLEX BINDING

2010-06-16T20:31:00.000-07:00

I talked about some other binding ideas in a recent meetup group, and some people wanted me to post some of those ideas.

/* 1. If you would like to get a little better performance when using binding then try using 
custom binding events on your properties */

private var _someProperty:String;

[Bindable(event="somePropertyChanged")]
public function get someProperty():String
{
     return _someProperty;
}

public function set someProperty(value:String):void
{
     /* YOU MAY ALSO CHECK TO SEE IF THE PROPERTY ACTUALLY CHANGED WITH AN IF     
        STATEMENT */

     _someProperty = value;
     dispatchEvent(new Event("somePropertyChanged"));
}

/* 2. Errors like #1009 happen silently when binding. You can use a class that many people don't 
know about to get these errors for debugging. */
// This will give you those silent binding errors
BindingManager.debugBinding("this.someProperty");

Everything you need to know about binding best practices can be found in a wonderful article written by Elad Elrom