Archive for the ‘Flash’ Category

Google’s Android kicks iPhone’s Flashless Ass.

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

Google Android logo

According to recent reports, Android based smart phones are out selling iPhone in the US:

Android vs iPhone: Android takes the Lead with 28% on US Market – Apple has now found its match Android Manufacturers have proven that they can go head to head with Apple iPhone, In googles operating system Android have just supremacy over the Apple iPhone in the US market share. In the First few months of 2010 Android jumped to 28%, Apple had their 21% , while BlackBerry stood firm with 36% given their Business style.

Now Apple disputed that study with this statement:

This is a very limited report on 150,000 US consumers responding to an online survey and does not account for the more than 85 million iPhone and iPod touch customers worldwide … IDC figures show that iPhone has 16.1 percent of the smartphone market and growing, far outselling Android on a worldwide basis. We had a record quarter with iPhone sales growing by 131 percent and with our new iPhone OS 4.0 software coming this summer, we see no signs of the competition catching up anytime soon

So what does this have to do with web design and web programming?

Ah … good question young nerdling! Web professionals need to keep up to date regarding technology trends, so they (you) can position yourself (in terms of your skills) in a juicy spot, so you can land the jobs and get paid more.

Android means more freedom

Another cool thing about Android gaining ground on iPhone so quickly, is that Android supports Flash and HTML5 … I’d rather that the most popular phone out there support Flash and HTML5 than otherwise. Don’t get me wrong, I like Apple products, in fact I am blogging on my Macbook Pro now … But nonetheless, I should have the choice what software I want to run on a device I bought.

Another interesting thing about Android, is that it too (along side with iPhone OS on the iPad) will be ported to a tablet. With the growing market share of Android on smartphones and soon (I suspect) on tablets, Flash and HTML5 developers will have a great home for their apps.

… Since there are millions of Flash developers out there (many more than iPhone developers) I am waiting to see what Google will come out with (in terms of a tablet) before I even consider the iPad.

That’s all for now.

Stefan Mischook
killersites.com

Posted in Flash, General | 3 Comments »

Is Flash CS5 the last Flash?

Tuesday, April 20th, 2010

With the recent and obvious attack on Flash by Apple, where Flash is now blocked on both the iPhone (which accounts for 25% of the smartphone market) and the just launched iPad, you have to wonder if Flash’s days are numbered?

Apple is playing a dangerous game – pissing off programmers!

By blocking Flash and the whole Flash development environment, Apple has now slapped millions of Flash developers right in the face with first the iPhone and now the iPad. I haven’t had the pleasure, but I’m guessing those slick metallic looking bodies might hurt a little!

Ah, but the one who might REALLY get hurt is Apple … this is nothing new.

Back in the day, Apple had a habit of putting the smack-down on developers while Microsoft supported them. The result: programmers moved to Windows and that was a big part of the reason why Windows destroyed Apple … Windows users had many more programs to choose from.

… Ironically, it took an infusion of cash from Microsoft to keep Apple alive.

Flash will not die and Google Android might be a big reason.

On the other hand, Google has embraced Flash (and millions of Flash developers) in Chrome and so all those cool Flash games will have a home on Android smartphones and the rumored to be released Android tablets. So no, Flash is not dead and in fact, it could be that Apple with have to open the doors to Flash sometime in the future.

Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com

Tags:
Posted in Flash | 11 Comments »

Apple vs. Adobe Flash … what does it mean for web designers?

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

If you are a web designers/developer or just a geek, you’ve probably heard about the recent ongoing battle between Apple and Adobe.

The fight revolves around Adobe’s Flash and Apple’s iPhone and now the new iPad – basically Apple has blocked both these devices from running the Flash player and thus, any Flash delivered content, whether it be video or applications … can anyone say NO Flash games!

Apple says that they blocked Flash because Flash runs terribly on Mac OS. This is true. But recent events tells me that there is more to it than protecting iPhone and iPad users from the evils of the Flash player ….

“Apple Gives Adobe The Finger With Its New iPhone SDK Agreement”

This title (form a Techcrunch article) tells it all. You see, not only does Apple prevent Flash from running on iPhone and iPad, they are even blocking Flash-created programs that would then be ported to (translated into …) native iPhone-code based applications!! This is truly a poke in the teeth … from Apple to Adobe.

… Apple is blocking Flash with their new license agreement – basically, applications must be “originally written” in C/C++/Objective-C:

3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).

I don’t normally swear on my blog … but WTF!?

Bottom line for web designers and developers:

We is screwed! Especially if you are Flash developer …

;)

Ok, not really … but read on for details how to get around this mess.

Apple basically want’s to kill Flash … this is clear. They want to kill it because they want to replace it. This is nothing new for Apple, they nailed Adobe with Finalcut years ago … and Apple basically took over the video editing market … took it away from Adobe.

More evidence:

Apple just announced a new tool for creating HTML 5-based interactivity, I’m not sure of the details but it just ads more fuel to the fire. There’s going to be a battle and nerds will take sides; in the end though, everyone will loose.

So what should web designers do?

Code is code and good design and good design – continue to work on your basics:

As I have been saying for years, don’t get married to a particular language or technology. Instead, try to concentrate on the key fundamentals and become language/technology agnostic … and use what works best for the project at hand. Personally, I’ve used 8-9 languages over the years to build web applications; I would look at the project and then choose the language, rather than trying to shoehorn everything into same technological box.

Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com

Posted in Adobe, Flash, Real World Web Design, Web Design News | 7 Comments »

Why Flash-only websites are a bad idea.

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010


I’m a big fan of Flash and it has many uses .. one of them though, is NOT to create an entire website with it.

My top four reasons for not creating a Flash only website:

  1. Limited search engine visibility.
  2. Harder to update because you have to crack open Flash source files.
  3. Harder to find Flash developers/designers than it is HTML/CSS nerds.
  4. Apple’s iPhone and iPad can’t see Flash.

Learn from the past …

Back in the 1990’s, Flash only websites became a big thing for a while … then people realized that it was a bad idea, and the Web returned to traditional HTML and CSS based web sites. Let’s not make the same mistake.

Attack of the KILLER APPLE

Another fact that should make you reconsider Flash only sites, is that Apple is now in open warfare against Flash, where they will not let Flash work on the very popular iPhone and soon to be released (with much hype) iPad. That means that a Flash only website cannot be seen by millions of iPhone users.

Flash should only be used for:

  1. Application development.
  2. Only in parts of your HTML web sites – to do things like play video, audio or some other multimedia use.

This short article may piss-off some Flash maniacs … but what can I say, sometimes the truth hurts.

Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com

Posted in Adobe, Flash, Professional Web Design, Real World Web Design, Web Design | No Comments »

iPad and iPhone are BAD for the Web

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

I don’t want to bore you guys to tears, but Apple’s latest move to not support Flash (and thus 99% of web video) on the iPad is very disturbing.

The facts are simple:

  • Millions of web pages with Flash content will break on iPhones and iPads.
  • Like it or not Flash is ubiquitous.
  • Flash is controlled by Adobe but free to anyone to write code against.
  • Apple is doing this to try and control content distribution – IMHO.
  • HTML 5’s video support is years away from being an option to use on commercial web sites.

Since Flash is not supported by the iPad or the iPhone and since the vast majority of web surfers don’t have HTML 5, if we want to deliver video on the Web, we have to support two methods of delivery.

… Just like it was during the 1990’s browser wars, where we had to write code for IE and code for Netscape. Thanks Apple for bringing back the good old days! Jerks.

Apple has to stop being a bunch of iJerks and support Flash.

Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com

Posted in Flash, Real World Web Design | 44 Comments »

Adobe Photoshop CS5 Release Date

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

adobe photoshop cs5 release date

Hi,

I don’t have a crystal ball, but I do have an eye on things OUTSIDE the web design world … I pay attention to the stock market. Anyway, according to analysts who follow Adobe for investment purposes (Adobe is a large publicly traded company) Adobe should be releasing the CS5 suite of products by second quarter 2010.

… For non stock nerds, that means about mid 2010.

About the Adobe CS5 product line

Adobe (as is usual) will be releasing Photoshop CS5, Dreamweaver CS5, Flash CS5 and all the other CS5 updates at the same time. And from the previews I’ve seen, it’s going to be a big update in terms of the new capabilities CS5 brings to the table:

  • Flash will have 3D physics – totally nuts!
  • Photoshop has new crazy powerful cloning tools.
  • Dreamweaver will make it really easy to insert live data into web pages via AJAX.

… And I’m sure a heck of a lot more.

We will have many videos and articles covering these new products when they become available.

Thanks for reading.

Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com

Posted in Adobe, Dreamweaver, Flash, Photoshop | 14 Comments »

New Flash CS4 video tutorials released.

Tuesday, October 20th, 2009

boxshot-flashcs4

Hi everyone,

I am happy to announce our new Flash CS4 video tutorials are finally ready! It only took me a year to get Santo (the author of the video tutorial course) to finally do it – better late than never I suppose.

:)

… I have to tell you, wrangling up good video authors is like herding cats!

Check out this sample video on using the Flash Bones tool:

You can find more sample videos on the Flash CS4 video tutorial home page and in this coming months Web Designer Magazine.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com

Tags: ,
Posted in Flash, Podcast | Videos | 3 Comments »

Using Flash to replace VBA?

Monday, August 4th, 2008

I recently got this email:

I have read or watched a few of the items about flash, but still have not gotten an answer to a big question I have.

Here is the question with a little of my background first. I’m a career programmer/developer having gotten my degree in 1972, I have been in the business ever since.

… I have done some web development for the last 4 years. Not full time, just part time. I spend most of my time developing and maintaining MS Access databases, using VBA to control whatever needs to be controlled. With that background, I would like better control over the UI within a web page and have the feeling that Flash is the tool to use, but I have not been able to find a good summary of what is possible with flash, from an interactive standpoint.

The short answer to this question is: YES.

Flash has evolved from being an web animation program to a full fledged application framework. It includes built in drag-and-drop UI components, data binding along with a powerful object oriented language that looks like a cross between Java and Javascript: Flash Actionscript.

Since Flash is a vector based engine, it provides a pixel accurate layout capability … that means you can produce any type of layout / UI you could possibly want for your application.

Adobe has created a framework for Flash called Flex. This extends Flash and provides a very rich set of tools for building applications for both the Web and the desktop. To get you Flash based applications on the desktop, Adobe has created the Air framework.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com

Posted in Flash | No Comments »

Video Tutorial: Actionscript Evolution

Monday, June 9th, 2008

Hi,

I’m happy to announce this great new video on Actionscript.

A few points:

Actionscript has gone through a few major changes that make it increasingly more powerful. But, on the downside, Actioscript has gotten a little more complex along the way.

The following video is designed to introduce you the major differences between Actionscript 1, 2 and 3.

Check it out.

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com

Tags: ,
Posted in Flash | No Comments »

Flash CS3 Video Tutorial: Nested Animations in Movie Clips

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008


video_tutorial

Hi,

This is just the first of many new video tutorials on Flash CS3 (and the upcoming Flash CS4) and Actionscript 3.0.

Video: Nested Movie Clips in Flash CS3

Summary of the video tutorial:

Using Nested Animations in Movie Clips with Flash CS 3
By: Santo Romano
Tutorial level: Beginner to intermediate Flash users.
Flash version: Flash MX, MX2004, CS2, and CS3

When creating simple animations in Flash, the main timeline is often the best place to position your animations. However, when these animations are repetitive, the best way to handle them is to utilize the movie clip symbol in Flash. Unlike the other symbols you’ll find in the Flash environment, the Movie clip symbol is perfectly suited to handle this kind of work. Rather than creating multiple key frames over and over again, it is much better to nest the simple animation inside of a Movie Clip, and to let it handle most of the work.

Thanks,

Stefan Mischook

www.killersites.com

Tags: ,
Posted in Flash | No Comments »

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