n8o » Flex

Creating an app for the Playbook.

n8o — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 15:49:05 +0000

Back a few months ago at max. BlackBerry announced they would be giving away free PlayBooks to developers who develop an application for their platform. I for one am all about free stuff. So I set out to develop a tool that I thought would be useful and I would use regularly. The app I decided to create was a programming calculator.

Today the application is finally complete and has been accepted into the app store.

While creating this app I used the latest version of Flash Builder Burrito. I found it a lot easier to use vs Flash Builder 4. The new built-in mobile wizards and device simulators were very helpful. Also the flex framework really worked great with layout and positioning as it always does. The only real gotcha with flex was how skinning works on mobile devices vs desktop apps. Everything else was a breeze.

Thanks Adobe and Blackberry for making such great tools that work!

Build iPhone Applications With Flex Builder

n8o — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 16:04:41 +0000

It always excites me when I’m able to find a new little gem on the internet. I think this could prove to be interesting as a way to develop for multiple mobile platforms. Not just for the iPhone or any other one offs. Today i was made aware of Elips Studio 3. You can register for the developer beta here. It’ll be interesting to see how well it works at compiling to multiple platforms and the differences between all those platforms.

From the site:

“ELIPS Studio 3 cuts through the complexity of the fragmented mobile market by providing a single development toolkit for the world’s most popular handsets. It includes a sophisticated simulator, and the code it generates is compact and rapid enough to run even on low-specification, mass-market handsets.”

How does it work?

Develop in Adobe Flex/Flash Builder
ELIPS Studio 3 is available as a plug-in for Adobe Flex / Flash Builder, a popular IDE for the development of RIAs and RDAs using the ActionScript and MXML languages.

Use our mobile Flex Framework
The product comes with a mobile-optimized version of the Flex Framework and a wide range of Flex extension libraries, including mobile device features and UI components. These provide additional capabilities beyond those found in the ‘standard’ Flex, such as making voice calls, accessing the phone’s address book, sending SMS or MMS, taking snapshots or videos with the camera, and more. You can also import open source ActionScript Web 2.0 libraries.

Build and deploy for the mobile platforms you want
ELIPS Studio 3 automatically mobilizes and packages your Flex-based applications for industry-leading platforms, including iPhone, Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile, plus proprietary mass-market devices that run Real-Time operating systems (RTOS).
And because Open-Plug has a long track record of creating optimized code for cellular handsets… you’ll get amazing performance with your new Mobile 2.0 applications!

Flash Player 10.1 & AIR 2.0 Betas + Samples

n8o — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 15:42:51 +0000

I have to say i was rather surprised when I woke up this morning to find out new betas of the Flash Player and AIR were released. I don’t believe I’ve been this excited for a new release of flash in a long time. But what I’m more excited about are all the new features in AIR. It seems like Adobe really listened to the community and put in the features we have been asking for. The feature I’m most exited about is the support for native code integration. Finally i wont have to rely on Merapi any more (even though it is a great project that helped me with what I needed at the time). So if you want to hurry an try out all the latest and greatest go ahead download the files below to get you started and take a look at the samples below to see what is possible.

< Air 2.0 Beta runtime / Air 2.0 Beta SDK >
< Flash Player 10.1 Beta / Player Global SWC >
< Developer Guides >
< AS3 Language Reference >

Samples:

Samples are from Adobe

FileTile

FileTile demonstrates two new capabilities in AIR 2: mass storage device detection, and opening files with their default applications. When running, FileTile detects when a storage device (such as a USB drive or a Flip video camera) is connected, and displays the contents of the files on that device. Right-click on images to preview them, or double-click to open files with their default application.

Download Installer | Source

SearchCentral

SearchCentral lets you search your desktop, Google, or Wikipedia from within a single application. SearchCentral takes advantage of the new native process API to communicate with the Mac OS X Spotlight feature. It also uses the open document API to open files when double-clicked. (Mac only)

Download Installer | Source

Microphone

Microphone records and plays back audio locally. It demonstrates a new feature in AIR 2 that lets you write audio locally without requiring a server. You can also speed-up or slow-down the playback speed of the recorded audio.

Download Installer | Source

S3e

S3E is an application that provides a graphical front-end to a user’s Amazon S3 account. S3E demonstrates the new drag-and-drop support of remote files using file promises. Note: Requires an Amazon S3 account.

Download Installer | Source

MenuMail

MenuMail displays notifications when new emails arrive in your IMAP account. It demonstrates the new encrypted socket support in AIR 2.

Download Installer | Source

KeePIPE

KeePIPE is a JavaScript based application that lets users share files on the same network. The application demonstrates how the new networking capabilities can be used to create peer-to-peer applications. KeePIPE also demonstrates the new open document capabilities. If you use an application such as VMWare, you can use this application to transfer files between your VM and host computer.

Download Installer | Source | Read me

GeoTest

GeoTest lets you throw images around the screen using a built-in physics engine. This application demonstrates the new multi-touch capabilities in AIR 2. Note: GeoTest requires a multi-touch device such as an HP TouchSmart PC or a Dell Latitude XT2 running Windows 7.

Download Installer | Source

TouchTest

TouchTest allows you to drag, scale, and rotate images on the screen. This application demonstrates the new multi-touch capabilities in AIR 2. Note: TouchTest requires a multi-touch device such as an HP TouchSmart PC or a Dell Latitude XT2 running Windows 7.

Download Installer | Source

PhotoPhysics

PhotoPhysics is a multi-touch application that includes a built-in physics engine. Note: PhotoPhysics requires a multi-touch device such as an HP TouchSmart PC or a Dell Latitude XT2 running Windows 7.

Download Installer | Source

SpriteF:-Oract

SpriteFract demonstrates a mouse-compatible, direct-manipulation interface. It has a built-in physics engine and leverages the new multi-touch APIs. It also uses PixelBender to asynchronously process a large amount of geometry data. Note: SprteFract requires a multi-touch device such as an HP TouchSmart PC or a Dell Latitude XT2 running Windows 7.

Download Installer | Source