Available on labs.adobe.com is a new tool we’re working on called Adobe Edge. It allows you to create animated and interactive content using web standards such as CSS, JavaScript and HTML. It is very exciting to have the flexibility to be creative before getting hung up on the technical aspects of a project. It’s also great for prototyping as well as learning how CSS, JavaScript and HTML can work together.

In this video I walk though an app I’ve created in Flash Pro. A simple match game filled with rich graphics and animation. But when you select the “VS” button is when things get interested. With this game (that works across different devices) you can challenge an opponent and even see the card the opponent selects on your device!

Download source files

Here’s how to overlay the AIR 2.7 SDK over AIR 2.6 in Flash Pro. Up to 4x faster as I can attest to! Screaming fast! But know that this is for advanced developers that are interested in using the AIR 2.7 SDK with Flash Professional CS5.5; however Adobe does not provide technical support when overlaying. If you require assistance, please visit the Flash Professional forums.

In this tutorial I cover some of the exciting and easy-to-use new features in Flash Pro CS5.5 specifically for mobile and tablet development. Learn how to setup documents, scale assets, share assets, rasterize for better performance and publish to iOS and Android.

In this tutorial I show how you can create a Flash-based presentation that can be controlled by an AIR for Android app. Both the presentation and the Android app are created from the same FLA file and uses a peer to peer connection to “talk” to one another. The result is an app that not only allows the user to preview slides, but also can control the slides shown in the desktop presentation. This allows the user to walk away from their computer when presenting while still having control over the slides. Special thanks to Kevin Hoyt for coming up with the original idea!

Download source files here (Flash Pro CS5)

Links:

• Influxis.com for Flash Media Server hosting, which can do peer to peer connections.
• LiveCycle Collaboration Service for commercial-grade, real-time, multi-user collaboration.
• Renaun.com to set up your MacBook Pro for AIR/Flash peer to peer multicast demos.

In this tutorial I walk through the basics of Peer to Peer communication using Flash Professional within the context of a real-time chat app. This technology can easily be extended for more robust collaboration projects such as real-time community white boards, social gaming or real-time online support. The source files can be downloaded here.

For more information I encourage you to check out Tom Krcha’s blog FlashRealtime.com where he makes a similar app using Flash Builder. Also, for a commercial-grade solution, check out LiveCycle Collaboration Service that has many key capabilities, including:

• Easily integrate text chat, whiteboard, webcam, and VoIP functionality.
• Rapidly build and deploy applications with the complete SDK.
• Manage user and session data.
• Build your applications in the best-of-breed mix of onsite and cloud environments

In this video you’ll learn how to deal with cases in which your app is interrupted by a phone call or is closed all together and then relaunched. Learn how to handle those “deactivations” as well as how to treat your app when it is activated again.

Below is the basic ActionScript, or download the source files (Flash CS5) and follow along yourself.

//Main menu button is pressed, a phone call comes in...
stage.addEventListener(Event.DEACTIVATE, Deactivate);
function Deactivate(event:Event):void
{
//Stop all event listeners, timers etc.
}

//When the user comes back to the app... (start over? resume?)
stage.addEventListener(Event.ACTIVATE, Activate);
function Activate(event:Event):void
{
//Resume event listeners, timers etc.
}

In this video I show how you can add class files to Flash Professional in order to take advantage of the BlackBerry UI and components (buttons etc.). Eventually BlackBerry will come out with support for Flash Professional CS5 (probably in terms of a publish panel) but until then these steps will work.

Some things you’ll need:

• Adobe Flash Professional CS5 Extension for AIR 2.5
• BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK Beta2 for Adobe AIR
• BlackBerry PlayBook Simulator Beta

Additional resources:

• BlackBerry Tablet OS API Reference
• BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK Forums
• Building Playbook Apps with Flash Professional by Renaun Erickson

I recorded a quick tour of Flash Catalyst “Panini” on DesignUpdate.com. Features include: dynamic resizing of components/apps/images, updated Interactions panel, Catalyst to Builder workflow, and custom skinnable components.

You’ll need these “Labs” releases to follow along:

• Flash Catalyst “Panini”
• Flash Builder “Burrito” – to experience the “bi-directional” workflow.
• Flash Player 10.2 – for publishing.