New Books: What’s New in Flash Player 11 + What’s New in Adobe AIR 3

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Joseph Labrecque

O’Reilly has published a set of books that I was able to get together over the past few months, leading up to the new Flash Platform runtime releases in October: “What’s New in Flash Player 11” and “What’s New in Adobe AIR 3“. These books are companion pieces as there is obvious overlap between what is new in each runtime, but are unique enough to require this manner of separation per volume.

The books are currently only available in digital format (ePub, Mobi, PDF) and can actually be acquired for FREE*! They will soon also be available from Amazon.com (Kindle), Barnes and Nobel, Safari Books Online, and other online retailers.

Details of both books are below, along with links to the publisher’s website which includes download of all source code and project assets. I do hope that many people do get access to these and build great stuff using Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 – so please spread the word!!!

What’s New in Flash Player 11

Quickstart Guide for Browser-Based Experiences

What's New in Flash Player 11

Author: Joseph Labrecque
Publisher: O’Reilly Media (December, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1-4493-1109-1
ISBN-13: 978-1-4493-1109-4
Pages: 78

This book will detail the various enhancements, new functionalities, and general improvements available in this new version of Adobe Flash Player. Each item is explained in detail and when possible, a series of screen captures and a full code examples will be provided, enabling you to both grasp the new feature in a visual way, and integrate the feature into your own code quickly, based upon example.

What’s New in Adobe AIR 3

Quickstart Guide for Desktop and Mobile Development

What's New in Adobe AIR 3

Author: Joseph Labrecque
Publisher: O’Reilly Media (December, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1-4493-1107-5
ISBN-13: 978-1-4493-1107-0
Pages: 104

This book will detail the various enhancements, new functionalities, and general improvements available in this new version of Adobe AIR. Each item is explained in detail and when possible, a series of screen captures and a full code examples will be provided, enabling you to both grasp the new feature in a visual way, and integrate the feature into your own code quickly, based upon example.

*I’d like to note that this price has absolutely nothing to do with recent announcements from Adobe. Offering the books for no cost to readers was a mutually beneficial decision made between myself and the publisher months before.

Some Clarity around Flash Platform Changes

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Joseph Labrecque

Before this evening, this post was going to read as another grueling defense of Flash technologies… Here’s an except from my earlier draft:

I have always used Flash when appropriate, to do things which were either impossible with HTML or at least would be a major pain. I’ve developed many applications which use Flash technology – they do so in a modular way. Will this change in the near future? Not at all. For functionality that requires technology beyond what HTML can provide, I am going to use Flash. Build a website? Use HTML. Will HTML continue to improve? Sure it will… and if Adobe can provide some killer tools and frameworks around HTML in the future – that would be pretty cool too.

Is Flex Dead?

So what changed? This evening, the Flex team updated their article from last week with a slew of excellent new details on exactly what is going on. I suggest anyone who is even remotely interested in Flex have a look over at Your Questions About Flex. Some of the hi-lights that caught my eye include the following bits and pieces…

Not only the Flex SDK is being open sourced, but also BlazeDS(!), the new Falcon compiler, testing tools, new Spark components, and…

Falcon JS, an experimental cross-compiler from MXML and ActionScript to HTML and JavaScript.

Whoa! Write AS3 and compile to HTML/JS – getting around the need for Flash Player for certain applications? Sure!

Adobe will also have a team of Flex SDK engineers contributing to those new Apache projects as their full-time responsibility.

Similar to their commitments to jQuery – this is really good news as Adobe ought to keep contributing to Flex. They have a lot to contribute!

The Apache model has proven to foster a vibrant community, drive development forward, and allow for continuous commits from active developers.

Having all of these projects (including PhoneGap) under Apache is a good move. The Apache Foundation is respected and established. Flex will not shrivel and die there – Adobe has now made some truly AWESOME contributions to the open source community!

The previous statement of HTML being the “long-term solution for enterprise applications” was also clarified:

Flex has now, and for many years will continue to have, advantages over HTML5 for enterprise application development

What about the roadmap shown at Adobe MAX this year?

Previously communicated road map features, such as enhanced code editing, real-time error highlighting and compile-as-you-type support will be available to both ActionScript and Flex developers.

So there we have it! Flash Builder also gets some mention with Adobe remaining committed to the tool – also a deep commitment for Flash Player on the desktop and the AIR runtime for desktop and mobile. There is a bunch of more info in the article, so be sure to give it a read.

I’d also recommend reading over Brian Rinaldi’s post, as it provides some additional perspective: Moving Forward with Flex and Flash.

And honestly, if you haven’t read Mike Chambers post yet… you really should.

In happy addition: I’ve gotten some rather heartening news from the Adobe Community and Education teams which will wait until another day ;)

More Thoughts on Mobile Flash Player and Adobe

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Joseph Labrecque

So, basically – here is what is happening:

Adobe is halting development on the mobile web browser version of Flash Player for Android. This effectively places Android on the same level as iOS so far as Flash Player goes for the future.
They are doing this as part of a massive reorg to shift resources to mobile AIR on Android and iOS. Mobile AIR is the solution I have been working with in my books, recorded materials, and as a developer. I have never targeted the mobile Flash Player.
IMPORTANT: Flash through mobile AIR on iOS, Android, Blackberry is going nowhere and is being given more resources. Again, this is what I’ve been working with – not mobile Flash Player in the browser.
Mobile Flash Player 11 is not going away on Android – but if Android handsets want to continue with new versions, they must license the source and compile for their customers. It will remain available for download and use in the meantime.
Mobile Flash Player source is being licensed to those who wish to compile for their own platforms (like Blackberry does now). So mobile Flash Player may not be going away at all. Depends on partners.
Adobe is also furthering efforts in HTML through projects like Dreamweaver, jQuery and WebKit contributions, Apache CallBack (PhoneGap), and notably their HTML/CSS/JS motion and interactivity solution; Adobe Edge, of which I am intimately familiar. I would like to think I have a balanced perspective in all this.
Adobe has received, over the past 36 hours, MASSIVE backlash from customers and the community. Many are hoping for some sort of policy reversal, though most of the pain has come from a really AWFUL PR job by Adobe themselves and the resulting fallout by media outlets who do not get their facts right, leaning instead toward sensationalism.
A number of Adobe employees in the education, evangelism, and runtimes teams have reached out to me. I appreciate the willingness to talk and good-will exhibited by these individuals.

Feel free to share this with anyone who wants more plain facts than press outlets are spouting.

Mobile Flash Player: RIP

Posted on November 9, 2011 by Joseph Labrecque

It’s been an uphill battle since “Thoughts on Flash” and this year things were finally leveling off. I was getting buy-in from important pockets of my organization and now Adobe’s message has utterly annihilated all the work I’ve done putting mobile Flash in a positive light. I’m not wasting any more time convincing people if Adobe itself isn’t standing behind the technology.

We will no longer continue to develop Flash Player in the browser to work with new mobile device configurations (chipset, browser, OS version, etc.) following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and BlackBerry PlayBook.

Now, instead of saying “Sure! We can do that in Flash!” – I’ll have to say “Well, HTML cannot do what you want, sorry… maybe we can just take expectations for this web app down a few notches?” Really, really sad state of affairs – especially when considering that mobile Flash Player works really well on the devices I use regularly.

I’ve never targeted mobile Flash Player for application development – have always done desktop Flash Player and AIR desktop or AIR mobile. However, being able to reassure clients that their desktop web project was accessible on mobile phones and tablets over certain platforms was often enough to convince them to go with Flash Player for certain advanced website functionality. Personally, I LOVE being able to view browser-based Flash content on my mobile devices.

Most all of my books, videos, and whatnot over the past year or so have revolved around AIR and mobile… so while it definitely does excite me to think that more resources can be placed into furthering AIR on mobile, as a user of mobile Flash and a strong advocate of mobile Flash across Android, QNX, and beyond… this decision absolutely weakens the perception people have for the rest of the platform.

The way in which Adobe just dropped the news on loyal customers after years of gathering pretty strong support from the Open Screen Project and other partners is probably the worst part in all of this. I’ve written a lot on mobile and Flash on this weblog. I’ve written how Steve Jobs is wrong, how Flash on mobile works well, et cetera… I stand by my previous statements.

I love what Adobe is doing with Flash Player 11 and AIR 3. I have 2 eBooks scheduled for publication by O’Reilly next week on both these topics. I’m also doing work with Adobe Edge and various elements of the “open web stack” – so I get that it’s important to support all of these solutions… it just feels so much like an ill-informed blood-sacrifice to dismiss mobile Flash Player in this manner. I think Peter Elst put it best with his analogy of removing a limb. Seems very unnecessary and Adobe has done great harm to many core supporters in the community and with outside perceptions.

I’m really floored by this decision. I hope I am wrong in my analysis. Thibault Imbert and Lee Brimelow seem to think that this is a good move. They are the ones that know for sure… or at least they are better informed than I…

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out.

Some additional articles on the subject (both positive and negative):

Flash to Focus on PC Browsing and Mobile Apps; Adobe to More Aggressively Contribute to HTML5

Flash to Focus on Apps for Mobile

Focusing

Et tu, Adobe? Flash Player homicide

Flash Player Mobile, a Post Mortem.

Adobe abandons mobile Flash development

Without mobile, Adobe Flash is irrelevant

Adobe’s November 9th Case Study in Message Failure

OccupyAdobe

Clarifications on Flash Player for Mobile Browsers, the Flash Platform, and the Future of Flash