Mobile Flash is on the Way

On February 6th we had a Flash developer, David Yang, talk to us about the growing trend of Flash in cell phones. Flash Lite 1.1 (comparable to Flash 4) and 2.0 (the latest improvement and comparable to Flash 7) are starting to be utilized in mobile devices. Mainly in cell phones, the Flash players, are now being pushed by Adobe who recently acquisitioned Macromedia. Adobe and Nokia are working together to bring Flash to the foreground and pushing Java into the background, as Flash has from the Web. With a much easier visual development and appearance, and small file size that Flash is known for, this is ideally the application to take mobile communications into the future.

Technologies are continually getting smaller and more powerful. This is a great time for Flash developers to be around. We, in North America, are typically 2+ years behind the trends in Europe and Asia where mobile technologies are taking hold by leaps and bounds.

Considering that most people have a cell phone, there is an enormous demand for Flash content. Paying close attention to these trends will definitely be beneficial to designers who plan to keep in touch with the latest gadgets for design.

It would be really nice to start getting useful services, like Google’s map searching capability (or other way-finding software), weather and news, traffic, restaurants and events, etc. all at the power of the cell phone click. Global positioning / cell tower positioning, I guess, capability would be really cool.

David has told us that Adobe thinks there will be privacy issues, but if used responsibly, there are definitely great benefits. Just no advertisements. Pleease! Let's not sell out and pollute our PDA's with just advertising, just because i walked by a store.

Web 2.0 and PodCasting

Having learned about the nature of the Web 2.0 and the PodCast community-based experience, it seems that the future of online communications/Internet is turning to a community collaborative environment.

I really didn’t understand the reasons for the Blogging trend but after learning about the origins of PodCasting (Web casting) and the new technologies coming out of Japan that appear to be techno fads but really are a symptom of things to come. Portable, personal and shared community accesses are being integrated into the latest technology trends. Wireless networks and Blue-tooth technologies are growing in use, in entertainment systems like the X-Box 360, and in communication tools like PDA’s and cellular phones.
I’m looking forward to learning more about these new technologies that are coming out – or are already out for that matter. It doesn’t surprise me that North America is slow to catch on to the latest trends.

Of course, there are those that ask the question… With all the improvements that technology has brought, has there been a fundamental improvement in our lives? Are we happier people? Just b/c we have faster bigger bandwidth connections, portability, smaller mp3 players, cool fashionable status symbols… I would like to think things are getting better in small steps, but with every technology that becomes mainstream, something can be lost. For example, if cell phones are so fashionable and disposable status symbols, is this really an improvement?

I guess I’m from the old school… when you bought something that had value; you actually kept it because it did have value. With the constant churning of low life-time technology and low costs, I have trouble seeing how we are improving ourselves and our culture by surrounding ourselves with disposable trinkets. Both multimedia and print designers need to be thinking about how disposable our culture has become and what can be done to be responsible about it.

Disposable Examples: cell phones/covers, cameras, batteries, watches, headphones, music players, CD/DVD’s, printer cartridges, etc.

Things are, of course, better with regards to the conveniences we have now. There is a glimmer of hope, however, and that is what I do see with regards to the Web 2.0 model. With an online service that offers applications, there is less need for disposable CD’s for example; as this won’t be as much an issue if killer apps can be readily assessable online. Not only the environmental issue, but also the social aspect of community is being brought back again.

Designers need to be thinking about these kinds of future trends and for someone like me who hasn’t really been exposed to them as much, it is refreshing to see the many possibilities that interactive multimedia can be applied.

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