Posts Tagged ‘Silverlight’

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Cross-Platform Mobile Development – Which is the Right Path?

Friday, April 15th, 2011

Mobile Application Development - Which is the best path? With the announced availability of the Blackberry Playbook, the growing popularity of Android devices, and the traction that Windows Phone 7 is seeing, is it’s getting more challenging for businesses to develop a mobile applications strategy.

There are several different paths to building a mobile application, including:

  • Native Development: This involves building a separate application for each platform using the recommended native language.  
  • Titanium Appcelerator: An open source platform that allows developers to build mobile apps in Javascript and to package them for delivery on different platforms (Mac, Windows, mobile).
  • Open Plug: A software developer kit (SDK) to build cross-platform native mobile apps using ActionScript/Flex.
  • QT: A cross-platform application and UI framework that enables developers to build once and deploy across many platforms.

(more…)

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Posted in ePublishing, Trends and Technology | No Comments »

Testing Out the Adobe Packager for iPhone

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

Packager for iPhone

With the changes to the iPhone developer agreement a few weeks back, the Adobe Packager for iPhone gained new life. The packager, which is a feature of Adobe Flash Professional CS5 software and the Adobe AIR SDK, offers a way to use existing Flash code to create native applications for the iPhone and iPad. We’ve been working on native iPhone and iPad development for some time now, so we were curious as to how this application could be used to port over some of our existing Flex-developed client applications. We took a sampling of applications we’ve built over the past few months, some simple and some more complex, and used the Adobe Packager for iPhone to convert them. What we discovered is that there are some significant limitations with this tool. (more…)

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Posted in Rich Internet Applications, Trends and Technology | 3 Comments »

A Step Closer to Universal RIAs

Thursday, September 16th, 2010

Apple logoA move by Apple this week to ease up on its restrictions for the creation of mobile applications for the Apple App Store is a step forward toward universal rich internet applications (RIAs). Back in April 2010, Apple tried to restrict how companies could code and build their applications. The company’s justification was that the restrictions were in place to protect quality and ensure security. However, it really just closed the door for many companies who were unable or unwilling to build technology using native development.

With Apple loosening up their restrictions, businesses can now create applications with a variety of technologies and tools and port them over to an Apple-friendly format. Abode is a step ahead in this race, as they had already rolled out the Packager for iPhone with CS5 to applications to an Apple format. As of today, Flash content in a browser is still restricted.   (more…)

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Posted in Rich Internet Applications, Trends and Technology | 1 Comment »

Why does it have to be HTML5 vs Flash?

Friday, June 25th, 2010

HTML vs FlashWhy is it that when people talk about technology they reduce the concepts down to a black and white comparison? It’s always one technology against another or one product that’s good and one that’s bad.

This is case in point with the recent battle that’s emerged between HTML5 and Flash. HTML5 is being touted by developers, bloggers and press alike as the new “Flash Killer”. This angle seems to be based on the one-dimensional view that Flash is only used for video (rather than the full spectrum of game, 3D and application development it’s really suited for), and that the fast and reliable video support that’s offered with HTML5 will make it the new choice for developers. But don’t count Flash as dead yet, it still offers a number of unique features that are not yet supported in HTML5, such as live streaming, DRM, and rich video controls. Plus it has a much greater span of support than HTML5 does today. (more…)

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Posted in Rich Internet Applications, Trends and Technology | 2 Comments »

The RIA Battle is On Despite the Economy (and Other Overwhelming News)

Thursday, July 16th, 2009

I was on under the impression that nothing on planet Earth was happening besides Michael J’s death (last name withheld to protect anonymity), but it looks like there is a lot of action in our industry.

Last week, Microsoft released Silverlight 3.0, a very promising RIA (Rich Internet Application) development platform. Thus far, Silverlight 1.0 was too limited to allow for any kind of serious interactions, and Silverlight 2.0 was just a Windows-centric platform.

Silverlight 3.0 features better media support (3D, graphics acceleration, higher quality video) and richer interactivity (richer user interfaces, ability to run outside the browser, ability to interact with other applications). It is an impressive platform for Windows but little is known so far on its prowesses on MacOS and Linux.

The current incumbent on the RIA scene is Adobe and, although it was known that 99% of all computers worldwide could run Adobe’s Flash Player, details on the specific segment of Enterprise clients were sketchy. A Forrester Research based on 50,000 respondents highlights that almost 97% of enterprises can run the standard Flash Player (the one required by today’s common Flex applications). Within 3 months of the release of Flash Player 10 (the player required for the upcoming generation of development tools), 36% of enterprises were ready to use it.

So, despite a slowing down economy, the RIA race is fiercer than ever thus asserting that the case for RIA’s is a solid one.

I will shortly blog my perspective on another hot battle these days: the Operating System’s one.

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Posted in Rich Internet Applications, Trends and Technology | 3 Comments »

Google’s Plan for World Domination

Thursday, December 11th, 2008

RIA runtime engines are all the rage and Google has now thrown its hat into the ring with the release of Native Client, an open-source technology for running x86 native code in web applications. This is already done today by Adobe Flash Player, MS SilverLight, Java and other less popular technologies on the market. In many cases, these alternate solutions offer more features and better performance than Native Client promises.

All in all, Google wanted to take a stab at solving the problem of how to manage local resources on a computer without the limitations of ECMAscript in a web page or the web browser’s sandbox.

Those who have been in the industry for a while may relate this Web Browser / Native Client interdependency to Director / Xtras, and may also remember that Adobe had always deflected the industry’s request to support Xtras in Flash. On the other hand, we can also recall the rise and demise of ActiveX Controls for Internet Explorer back during the time of Microsoft’s plans for world domination. Not that I believe that there was anything wrong with their ambition either.

Let’s also mention that Google Gears, Google’s native extension to web browsers that implements features such as: database functionality and geolocation among others, is a specific instance of what can be developed with Native Client.

Google’s Native Client comes with the hefty promise of “faster, more powerful web apps.” Competition is always good in the sense that it brings new ideas to the industry and keeps incumbents awake, but so far, it looks like Google’s Native Client has a long way to go to even start to be a threat to Adobe or Microsoft.

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Microsoft Releases Silverlight 2.0

Wednesday, October 15th, 2008

Earlier this week, Microsoft finally rolled out version 2.0 of Silverlight, its competitor to Adobe Flash. This version has been over a year in the making and was promised to be the “one” that made Silverlight a true contender with Flash Player.

Version 2.0 supports:

  • Powerful built-in controls: DataGrid, ListBox, Slider, ScrollViewer, Calendar controls and more.
  • Deep zoom: For ultra high resolution imagery.
  • Advanced skinning and templating support: For easy customization of applications.
  • Cross-platform and cross-browser support: Support for Mac, Windows, and Linux in Firefox, Safari, and Windows Internet Explorer.
  • And many more….

One of the most interesting points around the announcement was the install base that Microsoft quoted in its press release. The company claims that one in four consumers worldwide has access to a computer with Silverlight installed. Besides being an unusual way to present install number, this figure seems a bit high, given the relatively low developer adoption of the technology. However, with Silverlight used for both the Olympics and the Democratic National Convention this year, it may be feasible.

What does the release of Silverlight 2.0 mean? Well, it’s a very positive step toward broader penetration of rich Internet applications (RIAs) and it provides developers with a real choice in technology outside of Adobe. However, Silverlight has a long way to go to catch up with Adobe’s 99 percent install base with Flash.

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Silverlight Makes Headway

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

Microsoft’s Silverlight technology is making waves this month with two very high profile events. First, Silverlight was the technology of choice for NBC’s streaming Olympic video coverage on NBCOlympics.com. The site racked up 70 million page views on Friday August 8th, and 4.8 million people watched 3.1 million video streams on Saturday. These are impressive numbers for Silverlight’s big debut. However, there were a number of critics that commented on the frustrating delays for online coverage, as well as the lack of full screen support and the size of the windows.

Silverlight is also the official software and HD web content provider for this week’s Democratic National Convention. Although many networks are offering streaming video from the convention, the official site is the only one showing HD video content. The HD is quite impressive, and was even dubbed as “awesome” by the Washington Post.

Even with these two high-profile events, I’m not sure it will allow Microsoft to catch up to the massive install base Adobe Flash Player already has, but it certainly brings Silverlight closer to being a true contender.

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One Year Later – Looking Back over the Last 12 Months

Wednesday, July 30th, 2008

In preparing for the one year anniversary of Impact, I decided to write two posts – this one, which looks back over what’s happened in the past year, and a second post which will go up tomorrow that will look forward to what we can expect in the coming twelve months.

Since July 2007, there have been a number of big changes in our space. Here are my thoughts and comments on a few of the key ones:

  • RIAs – This was a banner year for progress on the RIA front. Adoption catapulted forward, new tools and technologies like Adobe AIR, and Silverlight were introduced, barriers were broken in terms of content indexing, and many new tools for development were introduced. We also started to see RIAs adopted by enterprise for mission critical business applications like dashboards. The improved user experience and productivity benefits are being recognized and embraced by early adopters.
  • SaaS – In the past year, there has been a huge increase in acceptance of SaaS by enterprises and their users. Decision makers are starting to realize that flying from New York to London does not require the purchase of an aircraft, but just the “licensing” of a seat for the duration of the flight. We’ve even seen the emergence of PaaS.
  • Mobile – Few can doubt the impact of the iPhone, but it alone is not responsible for the growth in mobile browsing. According to AdMob, the number of internet web users in the US grew by 10 million, to reach 40 million, and mobile web usage has grown by over 100% in the past year.

On a more personal note, we’ve seen many changes here at INM as well. Over the past year, we’ve really beefed up our team and have added a number of key resources. We’ve created an in-house team for User Experience Design and have encouraged a number of our developers to pursue industry certifications. We’ve gained significant experience in working on ground-breaking RIAs, and have brought in a number of really exciting new clients.

Stay tuned tomorrow for my predictions on the year to come.

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What 2008 May Bring

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

As the year comes to a close, it’s always an opportunity to reflect on what’s happened in the past 12 months and to look at what’s on the horizon.

This past year was an active one, with major shifts in a number of areas. Rich Internet Applications (RIAs), which have been on the radar since 2002, finally started to garner attention and gain traction with organizations. Major announcements from technology leaders like Adobe, Microsoft and Curl have made friendly and stable development technologies available. As well, consumers have responded positively to early applications making RIAs a viable next step, even for enterprises.

Software as a Service (SaaS), has also made significant in-roads this year and is stacking up to be a “technology to watch” for 2008. The concept of loosely coupled technologies behind the scenes, some of which are delivered as services, is a smart model that provides organizations with the economies of scale to be competitive and the flexibility to grow.

For 2008, I’m looking forward to seeing new versions of Adobe AIR and Microsoft Silverlight. Both of which seem to be promising technology to keep an eye on. It will also be interesting to see what happens with AJAX and Java in this mix too.

Finally, I’m looking forward to seeing what’s going to happen with the mobile industry. For years now it’s been ready to explode. Maybe 2008 is the year?

We’ll have to wait and see. Until then, Season’s Greetings and a Happy New Year!

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