Foundation Flash Applications for Mobile Devices (Hardcover)

by Richard Leggett (Author), Scott Janousek (Author), Weyert de Boer (Author)
Key Phrases: access native functionality, animated ring tones, device video player, Flash Lite, Sony Ericsson, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In this book you'll learn:

• The essentials of Flash Lite 1.1 and 2.X
• How to create mobile applications and games
• Best practices for structuring your mobile applications, from starting out to final deployment
• How to integrate graphics, sound, and video into your mobile content
• How to consume live data over HTTP and socket connections and make use of phone-specific features

With a growing number of mobile devices offering Flash support, it is an increasingly viable platform for the development of mobile applications. Foundation Flash Applications for Mobile Devices is just the book you need to learn how to take advantage of this new audience of mobile application users. Inside, it covers every facet of mobile Flash, from the essentials of the Flash Lite 1.1 and 2.X platforms and writing applications to testing your work and deploying to mobile users. Applications presented include screensavers, wallpapers, data-consuming informational programs (such as movie, news, and stock tickers), quiz games, action games, and more. You are given tips on mobile Flash development best practices, and all of the essential topics are covered, including creating and using sound, vector graphics, and bitmaps; optimizing assets for the small screen; coding realistic physics for games; and consuming web services using PHP, Java, ColdFusion, and .NET. Throughout the book, there are many samples to put together and learn from, and several bonus applications are also available to download and check out. Summary of Contents:

• PART ONE GETTING STARTED
  • Chapter 1 Macromedia and Adobe Flash: An Overview
  • Chapter 2 Mobile Devices
  • Chapter 3 Flash Lite 1.1 and Your First Flash Lite Application
  • Chapter 4 Flash Lite 2.X
• PART TWO LET'S GET DEVELOPING!
  • Chapter 5 Application Development
  • Chapter 6 Mobile Gaming
  • Chapter 7 Flash Lite Mobile Entertainment Basics
  • Chapter 8 Flash Mobile Sound
  • Chapter 9 Flash Mobile Video
  • Chapter 10 Extending Flash Lite
• PART THREE THE POST-DEVELOPMENT STAGE
  • Chapter 11 Distribution and Deployment
  • Chapter 12 The Future of Flash in the Mobile World
• PART FOUR APPENDIXES
  • Appendix A Error Codes
  • Appendix B FSCommand2 Commands
  • Appendix C Glossary of Terms

About the Author
Richard Leggett has over six years experience with Flash and currently holds the position of senior creative developer at AKQA, London. His passion for everything new is the very thing that led him to Flash Lite in the first place, as Leggett believes mobile technology is the next frontier and the next step in the logical progression of the Webs expansion into every aspect of our lives. He has spoken at several industry conferences including Spark, Flashforward, and the very first Flash on the Beach, as well as being interviewed in magazine articles on the subject of Flash and occasionally speaking at user groups in his native country, the United Kingdom. Leggett tries to remain heavily involved in the Flash community, and you can find him online in the Flash Lite Yahoo Group as well as at his personal web sites: www.richardleggett.co.uk and www.flashmobileforum.org.

Scott Janousek is a Flash and Flash Mobile developer currently working in the Boston area of the United States. In addition to his experience with mobile development, Scott has an accumulated ten years of diverse software engineering and Web consulting background, and several of those years were dedicated to the creation of interactive multimedia, including CD-ROMs, DVDs, webcasts, kiosks, RIAs, and web sites.

Today, Scott is an Adobe Certified Flash Designer and Developer, as well as a recognized Flash Lite Subject Matter Expert. In addition, he is also an Adobe Certified Instructor for Flash Lite and Adobe Certified Developer for Mobile Application Development. He holds a bachelors degree in computer science from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

An active and contributing member of the Boston Adobe Mobile and Devices User Group (AMaDUG), Boston Flash Platform User Group (BFPUG), and Mobile Monday Boston (MoMoBoston), Scott is passionate about the Flash platform across mobile devices as well as for the desktop. When he has a chance, he speaks at new media institutes, user groups, and conferences about Flash and Flash Mobile, including most recently the Design & Technology Festival (FITC) 2006, Adobe MAX 2006, and Adobe MAX Asia Pacific 2006. He has also written a number of technical articles on Flash Mobile technologies, such as Flash Lite, including some of which can be found on the Adobe Developer Center web site. Check out his blog at www.scottjanousek.com/blog for more information about his latest Flash and Mobile endeavors, as well as his occasional post about the latest and greatest portable consumer electronic devices.

Weyert de Boer is a New Media designer and developer, currently working as a freelancer in the Netherlands. He has a wide range of skills, including over six years of experience with Flash and several years of .NET and Delphi programming under his belt. He has been working in the field of mobile application development for two years and enjoys it particularly because of his interest in the limitations of mobile devices and how to solve the problems associated with mobile content delivery. He has been a Borland Technology Partner for five years.

Aside from his freelance work, he is also currently studying for his bachelor degree in interaction design and cultural anthropology. He will speak at WebDU in 2007 and likes to share his passion for development with other people around the world on his blog, found at www.innerfuse.biz/blog.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 536 pages
• Publisher: friends of ED (December 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590595580
• ISBN-13: 978-1590595589
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #495,017 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Want to publish flash apps to mobile phones?, May 14, 2007

By	Gabriel Dewitt "G" (Sebastopol, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book will take a flash developer a long way towards publishing applications on mobile phones. I didn't see anything on utilizing web services (something that is easy to do with flash lite 2.x) nor how to create .cab files (which was why I actually bought the book), but it covers just about everything else to a good level of working depth.

I wouldn't suggest this book to someone without any flash actionscript experience (or at least some object oriented programming experience) but you don't have to be a comp. sci. major either. Well written and not too witty (some programmer books can read like geek joke books) this book approaches the flash mobile development process from a practical hands on stance which works well with those who like to get their hands dirty while learning.

Strongly recommended reading for next gen phone app development in flash.

~Gabriel