The good news is that Adobe provides a mobile application platform called Flash Lite. The name pretty much sums up the product: a very slimmed down version of Flash 8. Unfortunately, getting applications to run on the platform is a little less straightforward that the name implies.

The general process to get your application onto a device is as follows:

1. Compile your SWF using the Flash CS3/CS4 IDE. Make sure your SWF is targetting Flash Lite and that the targetted Flash Lite version is compatible with the target device.
2. Load the compiled SWF into the Adobe Mobile Packager. There are some additional libraries required when targetting different devices (i.e. for Nokia phones you need the Symbian SDK and an application to sign the SIS file that is created). Windows Mobile is a little more straightforward and requires you to install Microsoft Cabinet SDK.
3. Package the application for your device as an SIS or CAB.
4. Transfer the SIS or CAB file to your device via removable storage, cable, or bluetooth.
5. Run the SIS or CAB file to install your application on your device.

There are also some gotchas when developing applications for Flash Lite (from my experience with Flash Lite 3.1):

1. Not all devices that support Flash Lite are on the Adobe provided list of devices in Device Central. For example, my Dell Axim x50 PDA, which is a number of years old now and runs Windows Mobile 5 is not listed. This device is supposed to support Flash Lite 3.1. As a workaround I chose the Nokia 5800 as a ‘closest fit’, as it supports touchscreen input and shares that same screen resolution. Obviously the correct hardware keys for my device weren’t emulated, but the basic application works and responds to mouse input.
2. Your physical device may not support certain types of audio such as MP3 from your devices file system. The easiest way to work around this problem is to load all audio for your application from the library of your SWF file, therefore ‘baking’ the audio into your SWF. The only drawback here is that it will increase your SWFs compile time.
3. No filters or Bitmap transformation functionality is supported in Flash Lite.
4. You have to use a cut down version of ActionScript 2.
5. Video does not support alpha transparency, and there is no FLVPlayback component for Flash Lite 3.1.
6. Embedded flash video may play very slowly on devices – it is recommended to use device video instead.
7. There are significant differences between Flash Lite 1.0, Flash Lite 2.0 and Flash Lite 3.0 – you will need to check the Flash Lite documentation as to what these differences are.

Basically, if you want to quickly roll out simple applications to mobile devices without a huge learning curve, Flash Lite is the way to go. However if true rich-media experiences and ease of distribution are what you have in mind for your application, you may want to consider joining Apple’s iPhone Developer Program and target that platform instead.

The Fails

• The screen has a slightly yellow tinge at the moment, and overall seems slightly less vibrant.
• Compass app seems a little bit flaky at times.
• Speakers don’t really seem to have been improved at all.
• Still can’t sync multiple MobileMe accounts, although that’s a software limitation.
• If you tap near the camera area on the back, there’s a slight, but really annoying rattle, like loose metal. This doesn’t happen on the 3G, and overall the 3G feels slightly more solid…

The Wins

• Anyone who said there’s only a slight speed difference lied. Flat out lied. The phone is dramatically faster and more responsive. Switching between apps is pleasantly responsive and everything feels snappier.
• The Maps application seems to locate you much faster and the orientation using the compass is extremely helpful.
• YouTube streaming over WiFi actually works properly.
• Voice Control actually seems to work and understands what you’re saying. I’ve successfully called everyone I’ve tried, even some random names.
• Video Recording is actually really good, the quality is great for a hand held although uploading to Flickr/YouTube seemed to compress and degrade the video more than necessary.
• Camera is much better and the auto-focus and tap to focus is great.

Overall our first day impressions are we love, love, love, the speed, it really does make using the phone a much better experience, and for that reason alone the upgrade feels worth it. We’ll let you know our proper thoughts after we’ve had them for a few days.

I never really understood when an actor wins a Oscar why they proceed to thank every person under the sun for helping them get there. I always thought it was strange and almost fake, but, now, I think I understand. A lot of people have helped Pitch over the last year to get where we are and we want to thank them. So while we reward ourselves for reaching our first year, here is our list of people that we owe a lot to (in no particular order):

• Everyone at MDS
• John at Bluespark
• Karl, Matt & Mike at CactusLab
• Graeme Mathews
• Our clients
• Xero & Sitehost
• Jon & Darren at Marker
• Raphael, Derek, Nancy, Frazer & Robbie
• Our families, friends & girlfriends
• Cameron & Michael
• Craig & Keri at PixelFusion

That’s our list, so a sincere thank you to everyone on it and everyone else who has helped us in our first year. We’re stoked we’ve made it this far, but we’ve still got a long way to go. Bring on year two.