While investigating page turning options for potential projects, I came across these impressive examples. One uses Flash and the other is done with HTML5.

Flash, based on work by Didier Brun:
  http://www.bytearray.org/?p=77
  http://www.didierbrun.com/foxaweb/demos/as3/pageflip/PageFlip.swf << actual demo
  http://ma.tthi.eu/blog/2009/05/07/pageflip-with-shadows/
  http://ma.tthi.eu/dev/pageflip/ << enhanced demo with shadows

HTML-5, based on work by Rick Barraza:
  http://jpageflipper.codeplex.com/
  http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7235888/index.html << actual demo
  http://bit.ly/1k2Pne

Are there other examples you’ve posted that I can look at?

This will be my 5th MAX, and by far, the busiest and most exciting. Here’s the many ways you can see me and our awesome team from litl in action during MAX 2010 in LA. My theme is Back to the Future. Read on and you’ll see why:

See you in LA from one awesome MAX!

During a recent Seattle Flex user group I had the honor of presenting at, Adobe’s Marty Mickelson (TheFlexGuy) took some awesome photos of me demonstrating some of the amazing technology Litl is unveiling in the coming weeks!

In this photo, I am showing the new Touch and Accelerometer remote (that’s my hand holding the real thing at the Litl offices in Boston). This remote will ship with the set top box, and our SDK has been updated to receive touch and accelerometer events from it. You can see it in its open form, with the full keyboard and special Litl buttons available. The actual set top box device has a powerful chipset (not mobile) to support everything Flash can do, including 3D:

This is me playing a multiplayer, 3D game prototype (based on Away3D’s Mario example) with the prestigious Nate Beck. We are both controlling Litl channel content with our own Android devices through the Litl AIR-based Simulator. You will be able to build Acceleroemter based Flash games for the TV with our SDK and Simulator. The Android control feature will let you build and test games without the device:

You can get early access to this technology by signing up here:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YLFTTXX

Be sure to visit us at the FITC Unconference at MAX where Litl is sponsoring free beer.
See me or anyone from the Litl team for a full demo of the new technology and device.
The new SDK will be available for public download at MAX.
We are working on contests, incentives and more exciting details for MAX.
Can’t wait to see you in LA later this month with some awesome technology!

Ever since I became a Red Sox fan during the season of 1987, when baseball cards had wooden borders, I dreamed of running on to the field at Fenway while my name was being announced. As I got older and started going to more and more games, that dream grew to one day sitting in a luxury suite at Fenway. Earlier this week, I learned that our generous CEO at litl had made a contribution in the company’s name to the Foundation to be Named Later, an organization run by Paul Epstein which raises money for charities. To coincide with the foundation’s upcoming Hot Stove Cool Music summer concert event, they had invited significant contributors to be honored at a pre-game ceremony and meet Theo Epstein and Peter Gammons. I will let the following video and photos tell the rest of the tail of one of the coolest experiences at Fenway I’ve ever had…

And now for the photos..

With Theo Epstein:

With Theo Epstein:

With Jay Santos, of Hell’s Kitchen, and Jordan Newman, of litl:

Thanks again to Jordan for accompanying me to the presentation, taking photos, and helping me represent litl so well!

After doing our first 2 live video workshops recently, some folks were asking about PaperVision3D and general 3D performance on litl. We grabbed a simple sphere rolling demo and wrapped it in a litl channel. The result is a simple, but insanely fun example of controlling a 3D object in Flash within a litl channel. This is also a great demo of the litl platform channel on a TV via HDMI:

Using the current webbook remote, the litl OS events WheelNext and WheelPrevious make the ball roll right and left respectfully. If you’ve never controlled 3D Flash content with something other than a keyboard and mouse, this should excite you even more! We think this is a very capable foundation for building games and 3D experiences on the current device and platform. However, once accelerometer is added via our new remote paired with our upcoming TV companion device, you’ll be able to control 3D and other object movements all over the screen.

For now, we’ve got a pretty cool foundation for 3D gaming and you’ll find the sample code, available in the Sample Channels section on developer.litl.com, impressively simple. Lastly, one of the reasons this is all so easy is due to the great work of the Papervision3D team and John Lindquist, whose rolling a sphere example led us to such a simple example.

Lots of exciting things coming together with the litl OS and SDK. The team has been growing as well as the developer community. A new batch of litl webbooks shipped and many went to developers eager to build Flash channels for the OS. We have a very busy summer planned and we are on schedule for several key evolutions that will turn our platform into the great opportunity for the Flash community we envisioned.

Channel Submission Guidelines

We are close to publishing a checklist of guidelines, both required and suggested items, that developers will need to build their channels by. Like most ‘app store’ platforms, litl recognizes that those who buy our devices are especially buying into a level of simple computing. Guidelines will exist to help developers craft their channels to the standards that we feel our users expect. Another goal in publishing these guidelines will be to attain a level of transparency with our developers so they know what we are looking for in a channel and what requirements to follow that will ensure a smooth submission and review process.

Accepting Channel Submissions

Of course, in order to distribute developer channels to our users, we are implementing a smooth and equally transparent submission and review flow. Developers will submit their packaged Flash channels via a streamlined form. Once submitted, developers can check status of their submission and receive reviewer notes if their channel is flagged for any reason. Once published in the channel store, the submission portal will act as a tracking and reporting tool for developers.

Flash Player 10.1

Although we’ve been preparing for integration since the spring, only recently has Adobe finalized Flash Player 10.1. Our team now is working to apply our custom and enhanced build template to the latest bits for Flash Player. At the center of our integration is video hardware support. We’re also working to fix webcam and microphone access issues that have surfaced with our present/temporary use of Flash Player 10. This team is researching features that will further optimize viewing Flash content on TV, to support the existing HDMI feature on the webbook and our future device, the web-connected TV box.

Launching the Channel Store

At first, developers will be able to submit and distribute free Flash channels. I believe this will create a good foundation of content and establish our ecosystem based on notable and commissioned-channel projects (where Flash developers are hired to build out channels). Certainly, there will be developers looking to establish themselves in the OS. We also have several content partners looking to get their premiere brands on the OS as channels.

A merchant system has been designed, reflective of litl’s simple computing brand, to accept payment from users towards downloading/purchasing channels. We are now architecting this system and a few week’s prior to its launch, we will start accepting paid channel submissions. At this point, we will have further established a very real opportunity for Flash developers to distribute channels to users and actually receive revenue from the sale of their interactive content.

Adding new APIs to SDK

Another piece of the puzzle we are assembling this summer is the advancement of our SDK. As we introduced at Flash And The City, our forthcoming web-connected TV device will add accelerometer, touch and video functionality to the OS. Our SDK team is working on the fun, but complex task of adding these APIs to the SDK code and OS. In conjunction with the opening of the channel store, the new APIs will be key to allow maximum appeal and distribution potential for the channels you develop.

Get Started

Head over to developer.litl.com now and get started with the SDK. Now is the time to learn our simple code and get familiar with the channel development process. As the above pieces come into place, you can be among the first to launch a Flash-based channel and distribute it to our users! We look forward to realizing the potential of this exciting ecosystem.

At FlashAndTheCity, we officially launched our Developer Center at http://developer.litl.com. You can now sign up for the SDK, which is in private beta. To date, we’ve approved 75% of developer signups based on Flash experience, and more importantly, ideas for channels developers want to build. The latter is important to ensure we dedicate support early on to those developers most interested in building compelling channels for our users.

We have decided that while coding with the AIR-based Simulator included with the SDK package is sufficient, having a webbook to test and play with is much more fun. Upon signing up for the SDK, developers can get a litl webbook (plus FREE remote) for a subsidized/discounted price of $199.

Visit http://developer.litl.com to sign up, learn more, get your discounted webbook and start building fun channels for our users.

I am more than thrilled to relay the announcement, made public today, that we are working on another device for the litl OS. Per the press release, I can say that we will have a Flash-Based “Web-Connected TV” device on the market, running litl OS as well as ALL channels built with our new SDK.

As I am finalizing my FlashAndTheCity keynote presentation now, I am working with some exciting photos and images of the new device. This means that the SOLD OUT FlashAndTheCity keynote audience will be the very first to see what we have in ‘store’ for the Flash community.

In the coming months, our SDK will be expanded to include “accelerometer movement, video chat, trackpad gestures, and microphone input” that will allow open development of “gaming, communication, entertainment and other experiences”.

There are too many ideas and details to share right now, and I am respectfully saving a lot to reveal at FlashAndTheCity. We’ve got a very exciting week and weekend ahead in New York City. Join us over at http://developer.litl.com to download the SDK and get the latest information on building for BOTH our devices!

You’ll hear me say this many times going forward, but: “We believe that our platform’s use of Flash will be the best and easiest way for developers to deliver great content and applications to the TV!”.

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

Today, we are launching developer.litl.com and making some major and exciting Flash announcements:

1. litl will have 10.1 Flash Player

We will soon be shipping and instantly updating existing litls with Flash Player 10.1. This will add the latest hardware-accelerated Flash Player from Adobe to our device, supporting an enhanced viewing of HD video and other Flash content. The 10.1 player will be added to our browser allowing the continued and seamless web experience litl users already enjoy.

Additionally, 10.1 will become the foundation for our public SDK.

2. litl will have an SDK

Flash developers can take existing content or build new content specifically for litl users: families and those looking for a more simple computing experience with our litl webbook and custom litl OS. We call them channels, and this is the form of application our users can download from our dynamic channel catalog. Eventually becoming a store, this channel catalog will bring a much needed and very true ecosystem to the Flash developer community.

While developers’ existing content is fully supported in our browser, adding our SDK to Flash applications will allow developers to create channels and hook into the special controls and ‘views’ the litl webbook features. In addition to a laptop mode, the litl flips over itself into ‘easel’ mode, where a unique experience is controlled with a scrollwheel and button found on the device hinge. These controls are replicated with our remote. Essentially, building Flash apps, with Flash or Flex, will let developers ‘target’ our device and offer there content ultimately, for free or fee, through our store to our litl device owners and users.

The SDK will ship with a Simulator so that those without a litl in hand can develop and test their apps. Also included with the SDK are asdocs, guides, tutorials, a custom UI control set (for both Flash and Flex),and sample channels to help developers kick start their channel project.

3. litl will be launching our SDK at Flash And The City, as a major sponsor of the event

While we may make our SDK available for private beta, the public release will be at Flash And The City on May 14 (the event runs May 13-16 in New York City). We will be on hand to demo the device and SDK, as well as showcase some initial channels built with the SDK and running on 10.1. Again, with our Simulator, developers don’t need a litl to get started, so all will have a chance to get in early on the opportunity to get their content out to litl users. Those in attendance at Flash And The City will get a first hand look and we are working on ways to give away our device to a select few!