www.solutiondirector.com

Here’s a great winter reading list from our friends at IDEO. (www.ideo.com)

Innovator’s Solution by Clayton Christensen and Michael Raynor is a book that reveals novel truths about innovation and a set of proven theories managers can use to achieve growth through disruptive innovation.

Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen is a groundbreaking book that explains why disruptive innovation is so hard—but necessary.

Entrepreneurial Mindset by Rita Gunther McGrath and Ian McMillian is a book that provides a guide to thinking and acting in environments that are fast-paced, rapidly changing, and highly uncertain.

The Knowing-Doing Gap by Bob Sutton and Jeffrey Pfeffer is a book that explores common obstacles to action in busines—such as fear and inertia—and profiles successful companies that overcome them.

Evidence Based Management by Bob Sutton and Jeff Pfeffer is a book that suggests businesses take cues from evidence-based medicine and its practitioners, who hone their craft through constant practice, experience, and knowledge seeking.

Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath is a book on the art of making ideas unforgettable through effective storytelling.

The Future of Management by Gary Hamel is a book that invites organizations to shed age-old systems and processes and think differently.

Payback: Reaping the Rewards of Innovation by James Andrew, Harold Sirkin and John Butman is a book that looks at different innovation models and how organizations can optimize returns by better analyzing where, what, and how to spend.

Emotional Design by Donald A. Norman is a book that looks at the role emotion plays in human-centered design.

“The Challenges of Innovation” is an article by Irving Wladawsky-Berger on BusinessWeek Online about the major obstacles to a healthy innovation environment.

@ Work  Movie Wins Best Film at the Adobe Film Festival

I shot this movie in a day at Adobe’s office, creating a company and story to demonstrate how Creative Suite tools can help you create better reports and presentations. Guerilla film making at it’s best! Well done everyone involved. Many thanks to Pete Brownstein as always for his expertise and guidance.
Scroll down to see the movie

Here’s the Film. Shot with a Sony TG-5 using onlocation , edited with Premiere and After Effects.

I was a panelist on the State of the Web keynote debate during Web Directions South 09. The panel of Ben Galbraith Palm, Michael Kordhali  Microsoft, Doug Schepers W3C,  Lochie and myself from Adobe debated web standards and the future of the web. An interesting session, some great ideas in there. The crowd were calling for blood – and the buzz on twitter was “fight!, fight! fight!”
http://www.webdirections.org

WDS have just completed a state of the web survey which provides interesting insight in current practices in the web community

http://www.webdirections.org/the-state-of-the-web-2008/

The update on player stats from developers – Flash leads by a country mile
http://www.webdirections.org/the-state-of-the-web-2008/flash-silverlight-and-other-embedded-content/#more-1442

Daniel Bogan’s amazing sketches of the debate session – very clever Daniel.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wafer/sets/72157622594391326/show/

Here’s more information on the Tour De France streaming we implemented for SBS in July. This was a major achievement and received coverage worldwide. For 21 days, the Adobe Tour Tracker™ provided viewers all of its major features without a single technical flaw. Video, rider biometrics, commentary, race situation, maps, profiles, chat, Twitter… All worked in perfect unison, updating in real-time, to create an unprecedented presentation of the world’s most famous bike race.

Here is what Matt Costain, technical director at SBS broadcasting had to say after the race completed:

“Adobe’s responsive team was able to deliver the highly integrated and innovative application that was the SBS Tour Tracker™. Bringing cycling fans live video, rider GPS tracking, community chat, course profiles, Twitter streams and rider performance data was a first in Australia, if not the world. The tracker perfectly complemented SBS’ television broadcast and was pivotal to the success of SBS’ coverage of the 2009 Tour de France.”

Click on the image below or here to see a time-lapse replay of one of the stages.

We’re over in Perth for the Edge of the Web Conference. Here’s Lachlan Hardy on Open Web

http://www.edgeoftheweb.org.au/

Pollen have launched the latest VB campaign.

http://www.vbraw.com.au

The promotion gives away a Porsche and the interactive parts of the campaign are streamed with Flash Media Server

Here’s a great list of 1010 events from Adrian Parr http://www.adrianparr.com

January 2010

February 2010

FITC Amsterdam 2010
February 22nd – 23rd, 2010
Amsterdam, Netherlands

March 2010

360|Flex
March 7th – 10th, 2010
San Jose, California, US

SXSW 2010 – Interactive
March 12th – 16th, 2010
Austin, Texas, US

MIX10
March 15th – 17th, 2010
Las Vegas, Nevada, US

April 2010

NAB Show
April 10th – 15th, 2010
Las Vegas, Nevada, US

The Next Web Conference 2010
April 21st – 23rd, 2010
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

May 2010

Lift10
May 5th – 7th, 2010
Geneva, Switzerland

FutureEverything (formerly Futuresonic)
May 12th – 15th, 2010
Manchester, UK

Flash And The City
May 14th – 16th, 2010
New York, US

Web Flash Festival
May 28th – 30th, 2010
Paris, France

June 2010

OFFF Paris 2010
June 24th – 26th, 2010
Paris, France

July 2010

SIGGRAPH 2010
July 26th – 30th, 2010
Los Angeles, California, US

August 2010

September 2010

Flash on the Beach ‘10
September 26th – 29th, 2010
Brighton, UK

Here’s the Online Creative Festival  URL

http://www.adobeonlinefestival.com/

The OCF keeps you up to date with the latest creative tips and tricks free and from your desktop check it out

Here are answers to some of the questions people have been asking on creating iphone apps using Flash

Which Flash Platform tools and technologies can be used to build content for the iPhone?

The primary tool for developing iPhone applications using Flash will be Adobe Flash Professional CS5.

We are also looking at adding this feature to other Flash Platform tools and technologies.

What operating systems are supported for authoring iPhone content using Flash?

iPhone application development will be supported on operating systems supported by Adobe Flash Professional CS5. This includes both Mac and Windows based operating systems.

Which iPhone Operating System versions are supported?

iPhone applications created with Flash are supported on iPhone OS 3.0 and higher.

What type of performance should I expect of content running on the iPhone?

The iPhone and iPod touch have processors significantly slower than those found on most desktop PCs and Macs. Thus, content may run slower than it does when running on a desktop personal computer. However, the exact differences will depend on the specific content.

In addition, the hardware specifications vary greatly between different versions of the iPhone and iPod touch. Because of this, it is important that you test your content early and often across all devices which you plan to target.

What are the requirements for testing Flash content on the iPhone?

In order to deploy and test content on an iPhone or iPod touch device, the developer must be a member of the iPhone developer program, and have an iPhone developer certificate, as well as the appropriate mobile provisioning profiles (which can be obtained from the iPhone Developer Program Portal).

You can find more information on the iPhone developer program at:

http://developer.apple.com/iphone/index.action

Is the Flash Player runtime bundled along with the application?

No. iPhone applications built with Flash Platform tools are compiled into standard, native iPhone executable packages and there is no runtime interpreter that could be used to run Flash byte-code within the application.

Does Flash content deployed to the iPhone leverage any private or unpublished iPhone APIs?

No.

Which version of the Flash Player is supported when targeting the iPhone?

The Flash Player API set available when creating content for the iPhone is based on the core Flash Runtime used in Flash Player 10 and Adobe AIR 2.0.

Which versions of ActionScript are supported when developing for the iPhone?

ActionScript 3 based content is supported when developing content for the iPhone. ActionScript 1 and 2 is not supported and will not work.

Can I re-use existing Flash code and content when targeting the iPhone?

Yes, assuming that that code and content is written in ActionScript 3, and does not use any of the APIs or functionality not available on the device.

However, due to the significant differences in processor speed between the iPhone and desktop based CPUs, content may need to be optimized or adjusted in order to provide the best user experience.

You may also need to re-factor the design and interactions of the content in order to provide a user experience tailored to the smaller form factor and different interaction models of the device.

You can find more information on optimizing content for mobile devices on the:

Adobe Mobile & Device Developer Center

Which Flash Runtime APIs are available when developing for the iPhone?

As a general rule, Flash Player 10 and Adobe AIR 2.0 APIs are available when developing content for the iPhone. However, there are a number of exceptions, including, but not limited to:

• Embedded HTML content (via webkit in Adobe AIR).
• RTMPE
• Dynamically loading SWFs that contain ActionScript
• PixelBender Filters
• Microphone Access
• Video Camera Access

In addition, APIs which do not apply to iPhone (such as accessing dock icons) are not available.

Can applications dynamically load SWFs at runtime?

Yes, although any ActionScript in the SWF will be ignored (as there is no virtual machine to interpret the code).

Which native iPhone APIs and functionality are supported when using Flash tooling?

The following native device APIs and functionality are supported:

• MultiTouch
• Screen Orientation
• Saving images to Photo Library
• Accelerometer
• Geo-location
• Cut / Copy / Paste

Can applications take advantage of hardware acceleration?

Yes. In some cases, the rendering of Flash content will be hardware accelerated.

We will publish more information on this when we release the public beta.

Can I play H.264 Video from Flash content on the iPhone?

Yes. You can play H.264 video from Flash content by launching the content in the native iPhone video player. You cannot play back H.264 content directly within the application.

Can I use the Flex Framework to create content for the iPhone?

While it is possible to create iPhone content using the desktop Flex Framework, we do not recommend it. The Flex framework is currently optimized for execution in a desktop environment. The performance, UI, and interaction models have not been optimized for mobile devices.

Adobe is working on a mobile Flex Framework, which should be better suited for iPhone development. You can find the latest information on the mobile Flex Framework at:

http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/flex/mobile/

Which fonts should I use when developing content for the iPhone?

A good baseline font to use is Helvetica at 14pts.

You can also specify the following font types, which will map to the fonts specified:

• _sans : Helvetica
• _serif : Times New Roman
• _typewriter : Courier New

The following device fonts are also available within your content:

• Sans-serif : Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet, Tahoma
• Serif : Times New Roman, Georgia
• Fixed-width : Courier New, Courier

Can I run content created with Flash in the iPhone simulator on Mac?

No. Flash content created for the iPhone will not run within the iPhone simulator on Mac.

Can I use native iPhone OS Controls in my Flash based iPhone content?

No.

What size should my Flash content be when targeting the iPhone?

In fullscreen mode, the screen size is 320 x 480 (480 x 320 in landscape mode). With the status bar showing, the screen size is 320 x 460 (300 x 480 in landscape mode).

Are there any general guidelines I should consider when developing content for the iPhone?

Yes. In general, your content should adhere to the Apple iPhone Human Interface Guidelines.

It is also important to thoroughly test content on all targeted devices as performance and capabilities can vary greatly between different device versions.

Deployment

Does the Flash Player or Adobe AIR runtimes need to be installed on the iPhone in order to run content created with Flash?

No. iPhone applications built with Flash Platform tools are compiled into standard, native iPhone executable packages and no runtime interpreter is necessary to run the application.

Can I submit my app to the iTunes App Store?

Yes. You can submit apps built with Flash tooling for the iPhone to the iTunes App Store by following the policies and procedures specified by the iTunes App Store.

Will I be able to distribute my content to other developers / users directly?

Yes. You can create an Ad Hoc certificate from the Apple iPhone developer portal, which will allow you to specify a limited number of devices that the content can be deployed to.

RIM joins the Open Screen Project

At Adobe MAX 2009 RIM has become the 19th of the top 20 OEMs to begin work on integrating the Flash Player on their mobile platform.

This is a landmark collaboration announcement in our drive to bring the full Internet to mobile phones and devices.

Here are the major announcements from Adobe MAX
HEADLINE: Adobe Flash Platform Speeds Web Innovation Across Desktops and Devices
Key Messages:
·      Adobe is driving rapid innovation on the web with advancements to the Flash Platform.
·      Adobe unveiled Flash Player 10.1, enabling rich Web content, video and applications to reach more users across a broader set of devices than ever before. In addition, Adobe announced new HTTP streaming technology for video delivered on the Flash Platform, demonstrated upcoming features of Adobe® AIR® 2 software, released a second beta of Adobe® Flash® Builder and Flash® Catalyst software, and made available new Adobe Flash Platform Services for collaboration.
·      The Flash Platform is the leading web design and development platform for creating expressive applications, content, and video that run consistently across operating systems and devices and reach over 98% of internet-enabled desktops

HEADLINE: Adobe Unveils First Full Flash Player for Mobile Devices and PCs
Key Messages:
·       Flash Player 10.1 is first full Flash Player for smartphones, smartbooks, netbooks, PCs and other Internet-connected devices that delivers uncompromised Web browsing of expressive applications, content and HD video across screens.
·       A public developer beta of Flash Player 10.1 is expected be available for several platforms (WiMo, Palm webOS, desktop OSs) before the end of the year. GA and first devices in market are expected for the first half of 2010.
·       Close to 50 industry partners have now joined the Open Screen Project.
Flash Player 10.1 will run on platforms including Google’s Android, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, Nokia’s Symbian and Palm’s webOS.

HEADLINE: RIM Joins Open Screen Project
Key Messages:
·       RIM and Adobe collaborate to bring full Flash Player to the Blackberry platform.
·       RIM participates in the Open Screen Project.
·       RIM becomes the 19th out 20 mobile OEMs that work with Adobe to integrate existing and/or upcoming Flash Player technology into mobile phones and devices.

HEADLINE: Nokia and Adobe Bring New Flash Applications to Mobile Phones and Other Devices
Key Messages:
·      More than 750 developers from 60 countries submitted ideas for applications.  35+ multi-screen applications were funded.
·      Applications span a wide range of content including games, videos, Web-to-location based services, productivity tools and other applications.
·      Developers can distribute their content via the Nokia Ovi Store and AIR Marketplace.

HEADLINE: Adobe and NVIDIA Deliver Rich Web Experiences on Netbooks and Mobile Devices
Key Messages:
·       Deliver HD videos, applications, games and other rich, Flash based Web content to GPU accelerated netbooks, smartbooks and smartphones.
·       Optimize and enable Flash Player 10.1 to leverage GPU acceleration across nVidia GeForce, ION and Tegra chips.
·       First net- and smartbooks ready to support the full Flash Player include HP Mini 311, Lenovo IdeaPad S12, Samsung N510, Acer AspireRevo, and Asus eeeBox EB1012.

HEADLINE: Adobe and Qualcomm Bring Full Flash Player to Next-Generation Mobile Devices
Key Messages:
·       Deliver HD videos, applications, games and other rich, Flash based Web content to GPU accelerated netbooks, smartbooks and smartphones.
·       Optimize and enable Flash Player 10.1 for Snapdragon chipsets and Qualcomm’s product portfolio.
·       Broader support within Qualcomm’s product portfolio for Flash Player 10.1 will be introduced with the availability of a beta version of the player this year.

HEADLINE: Adobe ColdFusion 9 Now Available
Key Messages:
·       ColdFusion 9 and ColdFusion Builder helps increase developer productivity, integrate with complex enterprise environments and deliver rich and interactive experiences for users.
·       ColdFusion is a powerful development technology for building dynamic Web sites and Internet applications.
·       The new ColdFusion 9 in the Cloud will run in the Amazon environment and enable more developers to access the power of ColdFusion as a hosted service.

HEADLINE: Adobe Unveils LiveCycle Enterprise Suite 2
Key Messages:
·      LiveCycle ES2 enables businesses and governments to build customer interaction applications that transform how organizations serve customers and constituents.
·      LiveCycle ES2 integrates more tightly with Flash Platform and PDF technologies, enabling organizations to create user-centric software that contrasts with traditionally unwieldy system-centric, enterprise software.
·      With new customizable RIA workspaces, mobile and desktop access to business critical applications, and deployment options in the cloud, LiveCycle ES2 significantly enhances business and IT productivity.

Note too that Google published an official blog post announcing their participation in the Open Screen Project. (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/10/teaming-up-with-adobe-and-open-screen.html):
·      Google participates in Open Screen Project.
·      Flash Platform support across broad range of Google technologies.
·      Both companies share the common goal of moving the Web forward by making it more powerful and easier to use.
·      Both companies collaborate to bring new level of openness to the Web that spans platforms and allows users to have rich Web experiences wherever they are.
·      The collaboration is aimed to help developers focus on creating innovative Web apps that run anywhere instead of optimizing apps for different platforms.

Cold Fusion Builder

ColdFusion Builder s an Eclipse based IDE for ColdFusion development that is deeply integrated with ColdFusion 9.  Now you can manage your entire ColdFusion development cycle from concept to production all in one easy to use tool.

• Learn more about ColdFusion Builder

Adobe ColdFusion Builder is an Eclipse based IDE for ColdFusion development that is deeply integrated with ColdFusion 9. Now you can manage your entire ColdFusion development cycle from concept to production all in one easy to use tool. With ColdFusion Builder you can:

Develop and manage applications faster and easier than ever. ColdFusion Builder provides a unified, customizable and extensible development environment to code applications, manage servers, and deploy projects.  With ORM code generation, CFML code assist, CFC introspection, CFML file preview and integrated debugging, ColdFusion Builder is the rapid application development tool.

Part of Flex 4

Cold Fusion Builder Beta – Beta 2 now available

Flash Catalyst

Adobe® Flash® Catalyst™ is a new professional interaction design tool for rapidly creating expressive interfaces and interactive content without writing code. Create interactive portfolios, product guides, microsites, site navigation, interfaces for RIAs and more.

• Transform artwork created in Adobe Photoshop®, Adobe Illustrator®, and Adobe Fireworks® into interactive designs.
• Rapidly create interactive prototypes with the ability to leverage them in the final product
• Publish a finished project as a SWF file ready for distribution
• Work more efficiently with developers who use Adobe Flash Builder™ 4 to create rich Internet applications (RIAs). Designers use Flash Catalyst to create the functional user experience then provide the project file to developers who use Flash Builder to add functionality and integrate with servers and services.

Cold Fusion 9- available now

Does support Far Cry (the CF CMS service) – backwards compatibility may require renaming previous functions. New functions such as hibernate – FarCry 6 is the around the corner – it’s likely this will be rolled into CF9

heading to LA for MAX. NOT. Bah humbug!

a site in 40mins dot com
http://www.tipsforcreatives.com/rocket

Google presents real time collaboration inside documents. A not so new idea but watch the video it looks cool.

What is a wave?

A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

This site in progress is viewable at http://www.tipsforcreatives.com/rocket

iSnack2.0 fury prompts naming rethink

Consumer uproar over iSnack2.0 has forced Kraft to concede that its new Vegemite-cream cheese blend might have to be renamed.

US-based Kraft is now considering how it could change the name of the product before half a million of the jars bearing the new name go on sale over the next few days.

“There’s a distinct possibility that we’ll be critically evaluating the name,” Kraft’s head of corporate affairs Simon Talbot said today. “The name isn’t resonating with success or favour.”

At the moment, the product is on the shelves with a label saying “Name Me”, part of a competition that has been running for months.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/isnack20-fury-prompts-naming-rethink-20090930-gbwt.html

Live TV : Ustream

@AIMIANational – The Digital distribution conference in Melbourne is being broadcast live via USTREAM today http://ddsummit.com/ awesome

Here’s a snapshot of what’s possible from Dale Rankine
http://dalerankine.com/index.php/2009/09/new-training-video-what-can-i-make-with-flash-lite/

@AIMIANational From Andrew Larkin Adobe hi all here links to the streaming sites we looked at today http://www.tipsforcreatives.com/?p=340

Hi all here is my presentation and below  – some of the flash streaming sites we looked at during the AIMIA  Commercialising Video session   – hopefully a few of these can inspire you!

Here was our 20 minute Whats Happening in the World of Video Tour….

Obama speech converted to searchable video
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/02/25/us/politics/20090225-OBAMA-CONGRESS.html

Using the Transcribe function in Adobe Premiere meant the entire Obama speech was searchable  – both in the movie (ie going directly to the places Obama mentions “economy” – and searchable in Google.
This is a major breakthrough in commercialising video content online. Keywords can be connected with banner ads. Browsers can be connected directly to sections within a movie. We could do a whole session on this!

Hot spots used in video
Hotspot allow you to add hotspot links into a video making it more interactive – a good idea for how to monetarise video content
http://hotclickvideo.com/examples/lvhd/
http://hotclickvideo.com/examples/

Create and broadcast your own channel
A traditional model for video online but one which is very popular – free service, ad repertiore model
http://www.ustream.com

Meet by video stream
An innovative way of using video to meet and greet in the singles market. Free service – ad repertiore model
http://www.woome.com

Facebook shopping Widget – click the Share Item at the bottom of the page
Adobe Platform services make it possible to distribute, track and charge widgets and apps distributed across social sites. Here’s an example of shared shopping – imagine this as a video app
http://www.charlotterusse.com/home/index.jsp

How multibitrate streaming works – roll over the icon and watch the bitrate change. This enables a consistent, full screen picture even when the bandwidth changes – a major benefit streaming has over progressive download
http://www.streamflashhd.com/

NRL Recutter using Premiere Express
This is a great service and simple to set up using PRemiere Express (which is a hosted service). An easy was to let people create mash ups.
http://redzonetv.nfl.com/recutter/

Sony’s Bandit.fm – awesome site well done the digital team at Sony.
http://www.bandit.fm

SBS Streaming the Tour De France – full noise streaming ++
The SBS Tour Tracker took live streaming to a whole new level by integrating video stream with GPS data, rider heart rate and power data,  Twitter, live commentary and chat. Australia leading the world. Awesome.
http://www.tipsforcreatives.com/?p=186

AFI viewing room - an AIR app for watching local shorts built with rights management. This is a example of how restricted content can be distributed using AIR and rights mangement. Members only model.
http://www.afi.org.au

Broadcast VOD – most with free content, some served with ad repertiore

ABC
http://www.abc.net.au/iview/

BBC – everywhere
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/where_to_get_iplayer/

Information on the Flash Platform Services
http://www.adobe.com/flashplatform/services/
http://eon.businesswire.com/portal/site/eon/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090920005059&newsLang=en

Information on Flash Access 2 – DRM
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200909/AdobeUnveilsAdobeFlashAccess2.0.html

http://www.macworld.com/article/142680/2009/09/flashaccess.html?lsrc=rss_main

My contact details

alarkin@adobe.com