HTC Incredible Android in hand
I am very excited to finally be an Android user. This is my first non-Windows Mobile phone since 2005. That’s right, between the Samsung i730, MotoQ and Samsung Omnia, I’ve been relying on Windows as my mobile OS for 6 years.
The lack of available apps has left me frustrated and the performance, touch and app start up is sluggish and pales in comparison to newer phones. My wife got the Moto Droid back in December and loves it. I’ve never had any desire to switch away from Verizon or, if you can believe it, get an iPhone. Android seems like a great operating system, and this new device, with 8mp camera and out-of-the-box tethering ability (there is a literally a card in the box reminding you of this feature) seems to fit my needs so well right now.
I’ll try and post a detailed review once I actually use this phone. If you’ve been using Android, any suggestions on which apps I should install?
And of course, I can’t wait for Flash Player 10.1 and AIR betas to enjoy on this puppy!
Hosting this week’s Boston Flash Platform User Group at litl
If you are in the Boston area this Wednesday, April 28, and are part of or interested in the Flash scene, please join us at litl’s HQ right in Boston’s Back Bay. We’re ordering some amazing food, so plan to have dinner at the meetup.
We’ll cover topics related to the new litl Flash SDK and you will get to play with and learn how to code for the litl webbook! Please RSVP here: http://bfpug.eventbrite.com/
You can learn more about BFPUG on Adobe Groups here: http://groups.adobe.com/group/322
Is it Apple or game developers that deserve the credit?
A lot of numbers, reports and success stories have been coming out about Apple’s growth and recent dominance in the mobile game space. They’ve been stealing some serious market share from mobile game powerhouses Nintendo and Sony. Since Apple owns the products and processes for playing and distributing the games, I understand why the big success has been largely pronounced for them. I also give them credit for introducing and ‘opening up’ new control APIs to developers to build games with, namely accelerometer and touch. While these features were available in other game systems, Apple opened them up to developers and provided a relatively unobstructed way to distribute the apps, and better yet, generate direct revenue from the sale of them.
iPhone games now a $500 million industry.
Sony and Nintendo losing market share to Apple’s iPhone and iPod
All this being said, I still think there’s an absurd lack of credit being given to game developers. One would think that clearly, after decades of video game progress and industry growth, there would be a vacuum of thousands of developers with great gaming ideas and general ability ready/willing/wanting to create their own games. Restricted to the closed distribution model that long-standing game system manufacturers still foster, there was no way for all of these independent game developers ‘in waiting’ to get their idea built and deployed to the masses.
Apple iPhone developers mostly don’t make much money
iPhone Dev: The Honeymoon is Over
I’m not saying Apple should do something extra special to recognize developers here… there are already some games generating millions for their makers. I think the industry needs to recognize how powerful the developer’s role is in the free-market app and game economy. Apple might be the big winner now, but they won’t be the only player for long. Other platforms, mobile and otherwise, would do well and should always put the developer’s success before their own.
FITC Toronto 2010 Scouting Report
This year I am unfortunately missing my first FITC in 3 years. This a great conference and for the 1000+ that are going, and the few that remain on the fence, I offer this scouting report. If I were going, here are the sessions (based solely on topic & description) I’d be most interested to attend.
Day 1
Back to the Future, Hacking SWF, Touch Me Baby
Day 2
Large, Physical, Flash, Storytelling: Absorbed, Obsessed And Immersed, Merging Motion: Working between Flash and After Effects, You Talkin’ To Me?
Day 3
Future Stories: New Tools for New Screens, The Cool Shit Hour, From Flash to Unity (and back)
If you are fortunate to go please comment back here, or post on your own, some details about these and other sessions you found interesting.
Apple’s 3.3.1 burns at Flash point
My real thoughts on the 3.3.1 clause of the iPhone Developer Program agreement, now confirmed by Steve Jobs of Apple as a clear attempt to block “intermediate layers between the platform”:
I’m not even close to siding with Apple. I’m the furthest from being an Apple fanboy from almost anyone I know. I wonder, from their perspective, how the outcry from the Flash and other communities looks. If anything, I don’t see them registering it as a negative complaint, rather confirmation that they have created a platform and opportunity that we all want a piece of — and we all appear frustrated we can’t get a piece of it on our own terms.
I have not been able to get my hands on the CS5 beta, nor have I installed any apps, that I know of, that were compiled with CS5 for the iPhone or iPod Touch. I can’t attest to the quality of apps created this way, so I can’t really argue whether “intermediate layers” really disrupt their platform experience. However, having been a longtime Adobe customer, I know the quality of most of their products usually gives me the results and quality apps I want.
Last June I set out to contribute an app just for the fun of it — just to see if I could do it — and to see if I could engage my then 2-year-old via a device he was clearly becoming glued to. It’s true. My 2-year-old became quite attached to our iPod Touch, much earlier and much more captivated than I was when I used to play the Nintendo Game Boy at a younger age. Coding in Xcode, learning ObjC, proved to be an incredibly positive and constructive experience for me. I didn’t feel forced at the time to learn the language, rather took it as a challenge to learn a completely new language for this first time in almost 6 years. The game I made posted in the app store in August. It was a personal triumph.
There’s no doubt it feels something evil is going on here, especially when we haven’t heard of customers of Apple’s openly complaining about poor quality from non-iPhone SDK produced apps. We are left to assume Apple’s moves are solely vindictive, and that’s where I don’t like it. If, however, Apple came out with a report of customer complaints on how Flash or other alternative language-based apps were performing badly on their devices, how could any of us argue?
Should section 3.3.1 be upheld by Apple, thus blocking all other alternative ways to product iPhone SDK content, my suggestion to the Flash and other communities is to embrace those platforms and devices that openly support your language. Assuming you wouldn’t want to live in a country where they don’t speak your language or go to the extent of outlawing it, find a platform where your skills, creativity and vision are welcome and supported.
The flash point of a volatile liquid is the lowest temperature at which it can vaporize to form an ignitable mixture in air.
Speaking of 3.3.1…
Now that Apple has made section 3.3.1 infamous, with a controversial change to their iPhone Developer Program agreement, I wanted to see what other sections of the same indexing are notable throughout history:
3.3.1 Buffon’s Needle Experiment
A famous “needle-throwing” experiment first proposed by Buffon in 1777 provides a good example of probabilistic modeling from a geometrical point of view: Suppose we have a large flat surface that has been ruled with a series of equidistant parallel lines separated by a distance d. An experimenter throws a needle of length l “at random” onto the surface and we wish to compute the probability that the needle intersects one of the parallel lines. We suppose that the surface is large enough so that the needle always lands on it and that boundary effects are negligible.
3.3.1 of the Georgia Stormwater Management Manual
Filter strips are uniformly graded and densely vegetated sections of land, engineered and
designed to treat runoff and remove pollutants through vegetative filtering and infiltration. Filter
strips are best suited to treating runoff from roads and highways, roof downspouts, very small
parking lots, and pervious surfaces. They are also ideal components of the “outer zone” of a
stream buffer, or as pretreatment for another structural stormwater control.
3.3.1. Protein structure from Genomes by T.A. Brown
A protein, like a DNA molecule, is a linear unbranched polymer. In proteins the monomeric subunits are called amino acids and the resulting polymers, or polypeptides, are rarely more than 2000 units in length. As with DNA, the key features of protein structure were determined in the first half of the 20th century, this phase of protein biochemistry culminating in the 1940s and early 1950s with the elucidation by Pauling and Corey of the major conformations or secondary structures taken up by polypeptides. In recent years, interest has focused on how these secondary structures combine to produce the complex three-dimensional shapes of proteins.
3.3.1 AFFAIRS OF THE TOWN, from The Town Charter of Marlborough, Connecticut
In addition to powers granted by the CGS, the Selectmen shall have the general and specific powers per Section 3.4. They shall be responsible foroverseeing and coordinating the performance of duties and responsibilities of the officers, boards, commissions and other agencies of the Town as the carrying out of these duties and responsibilities affect the affairs of the Town.
Why FlashCommunityCares.com?
UPDATE: Visit FlashCommunityCares.com right now to bid on tickets to FITC Toronto, FlashBelt and FlashAndTheCity!
There is no doubt in my mind that the Flash Community is the most creative, energetic and vocal designer & developer community out there. The combination of talent, across many skills of designing and coding, along with its longevity and the activity Flash fosters of its members to contribute code, support one another and engage each other, is really unprecedented. Perhaps because ‘both sides of the brain’ are involved with Flash more so than other software platforms, or maybe its the abundance of conferences we all congregate to… It’s not just about cutting & pasting actionscript, mxml, or drawing lines, tweening, building components… It’s about the people involved and the character of its members.
When the Flash community gets crossed by something, they are as vocal as anybody. The solidarity amongst this vast, international network is a strong force. As the world continues to need our help, its time to harness this community into something that everyone can benefit from.
FlashCommunityCares.com was launched to give the Flash community a collective point of light to do some great things for everyone. We’ve already raised over $5000 for various organizations including Toys for Tots, Doctors Without Borders, The American Red Cross and various funds for Haiti relief.
Our efforts are supported by various and generous Flash community members, conference organizers and some special people wanting to make a difference! Most notably, we’ve received tremendous support from FITC, FlashBelt, FlashAndTheCity, 360Flex, and individual item donators and contributors like Jesse Freeman, Lee Brimelow, Brian Connatser, Michelle Yaiser and several more!
Please help us help others. Spread the word about FlashCommunityCares.com.
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