Usually I'm asked by developers and business people the following questions "what's the percentage of devices in the US that support Flash Lite" or "how many Nokia S60 devices are there in the UK". Providing this type of information to the community is important and you can now download a two page PDF that contains this information.

Data for this PDF was provided by mmetrics and shows the active number of Flash Lite devices as of January 2008 for six countries: US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK. Total Flash Lite devices, number of device models and number of addressable devices by platform are listed: Nokia S60, Nokia Series 40, Sony Ericsson and BREW.

Let me know if you find this information useful or what other types of data you'd like to see.

I've updated the Flash Lite enabled handsets spreadsheet with the most current information that's publicly available and acknowledged by our handset partners. Latest stats: Nokia = 67 devices, Sony Ericsson = 57 devices, BREW = 13 devices. This includes devices that are available in market today as well as some devices that will be available in either Q1 or Q2 of this year.

Given what's happened in the past at the 3GSM conference, I expect that after the Mobile World Congress next month there will be new devices announced by our partners and will update this information again in early March.

You can now download the latest spreadsheet (PDF) of Flash enabled handsets that are available from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and BREW (for Verizon Wireless). As of 5 November there are 60 Nokia, 36 Sony Ericsson and 13 BREW handsets that have some version of Flash Lite pre-installed. These numbers represent actual handsets that are commercially available for consumers to purchase or are already in market.

Some of you may have or continue to refer the Flash Lite supported devices page on the Adobe mobile and devices developer center. The information on that page is not current and we're in the process of updating it so it's accurate for developers. Until then please refer to this PDF for the most accurate information.

As we get more details from our OEM partners we'll be updating the PDF and making new versions available when needed.

If there's some information that's not listed in the PDF leave a comment here and I'll see what I can do about making changes.

Last week was the BREW 2007 developer conference in San Diego and it was a well attended event by BREW developers, content publishers, operators and OEMs. We (Adobe) were a gold sponsor and had a booth presence in addition to 2 speaking sessions regarding Flash Lite for BREW. This was my second BREW developer conference and it was cool to meet and discuss things with other developers and to hear first hand how they develop their BREW applications.

The Thursday session was a panel discussion moderated by Qualcomm that included people me and a person from FunMobility, Shockwave and Smashing Ideas. We discussed several topics that are relevant to the US market and opportunities for Flash Lite developers to make money with the BREW platform. Friday's topic was a joint presentation by Vinay Ramani (PM for Flash Lite) and me and was about "Exploring the Opportunities of Adobe Flash Lite". For those of you who were not able to attend you can download a PDF version of the presentation here.

One great new piece of information that we wanted to share was that as reported by M:Metrics as of April 30 2007, some of the most high revenue generating phones for Verizon Wireless support our Flash Lite for BREW extension. These 13 handsets represent 16 million active Verizon Wireless subscribers.



If you take a look at where when we launched the Flash Lite for BREW extension at MAX last October we had 2 handsets. In 8 months we've certified 11 more and we're still in the process of certifying several more handsets this year. What this means for companies and individuals developing Flash Lite applications and content for Verizon Wireless is there are 16 million Verizon Wireless subscribers that can potentially purchase your applications and content.

One benefit with developing with Flash Lite is you can target multiple devices with the same screen size using one FLA file. In the graphic below you can see how a developer would only need to create 3 FLA files to target all 13 supported Verizon Wireless handsets.



Since the APIs are consistent from device to device and verified through our Flash Lite certification process, this results in less porting and testing which results in cost savings.

Things are looking good for the total addressable market in the US and they're going to get better. Expect more BREW/Verizon Wireless developer related posts this summer.

If you're using Flash CS3 Professional and are developing Flash Lite applications you can now download Flash Lite 2.1 for BREW Publisher for Flash CS3 Professional from the Adobe mobile and devices developer site. This is an updated version of the plug-in for Flash CS3 Professional that's already available for Flash Professional 8 users.

This free plug-in for Flash CS3 Professional will allow you to export your Flash Lite applications as native BREW files (.mod and .mif) for testing using the Qualcomm BREW SDK Simulator and to transfer to a supported BREW handset for device testing.

You can get more information about developing for BREW devices and VZW here:
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/brew.html
http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/verizon.html

You may have already seen the press release but I wanted to blog it just in case you weren't aware. As of 25 October, Verizon Wireless started to offer Flash Lite applications and content to millions of subscribers who have one of the four supported BREW enabled handsets. This is fantastic news and I'm really excited about this - and you should be too.

Supported BREW enabled Verizon Wireless handsets
Today these four handsets are supported: Samsung SCH-A950, LG VX9800, Motorola RAZR V3c and Motorola V3m. We're working with Verizon Wireless and Qualcomm to certify additional handsets and will list them on our developer site once they're certified.

Flash Lite applications available
There are 8 applications available today:

• The Weather Channel
• MovieGoer
• Jungle Jim
• Extreme Hangman FL
• NBC's The Office Games
• Mini Arcade by Shockwave
• Shockwave Minis Unlimited
• Animated Screensavers

During the day 2 keynote at MAX this past Wednesday, I purchased, downloaded, installed and played "Mini Arcade by Shockwave" live on stage to my Samsung SCH-A950. It was awesome to finally see Flash Lite content running on a US carrier's network.


Here is a video clip of me downloading the Flash Lite game Jungle Jim (created by SkyZone Entertainment) on my Motorola RAZR V3c.

So if you have one of the supported Verizon Wireless phones go to the Get It Now catalog and take a look at these Flash Lite applications. As more applications are made available to consumers I'll be listing them here and also on the Flash Lite for Verizon Wireless Development Center. If you have questions make sure to post them in the Flash Lite for BREW forums.

We need your content.

The Flash Lite Quality Assurance team would appreciate being able to run your BREW apps with our final builds. We want to achieve two goals: to increase the quality of the player and to ensure that your apps will run properly on the devices we are certifying.

Please send all content to flashlitebrew at adobe dot com (in a zip file but change the extenstion from ".zip" to ".zzp" so it comes through). Rest assured that this content will never leave our team, be used in any type of marketing materials and it will be treated as highly confidential.

Thank you in advance for your collaboration!

For over 15 months we (Macromedia/Adobe) have been talking and showing examples of phones that use Flash Lite for the UI. Today there are quite a few Samsung and LG handsets in Korea that already are using Flash Lite to improve the user experience and they're great examples of how creativity and functionality can come together.

Now those of you living in the US can see and own this technology thanks to the new Verizon Wireless LG VX8500 phone, or otherwise known as the "Chocolate". This phone was originally released by LG in Korea last year and 2 weeks ago it was released here for Verizon Wireless. The phone itself is a great form factor- it's thinner and lighter than my Nokia N80, nice glossy black finish and the heat-sensitive controls on the face of the phone are cool.


Here's a quick video clip I shot demonstrating the various ways that Flash Lite is being used as UI elements of the chocolate phone: wallpaper and levels 1-3 of the phone menus.

In addition to using Flash Lite for these UI elements, this phone will also support the Flash Lite for BREW extension - we're currently testing this handset and will release more details in the future. So when I'm able to get Flash Lite 2.1 applications running on this phone I'll let everyone know.

Following up on my online discussion last Saturday (8 July) I've now compiled and made available the first FAQ for developers creating Flash Lite applications and/or content for BREW devices. You can download it here - it's a zip file that contains a PDF version of the FAQ.

If you have any additional questions that you would like me to answer please post them in the Adobe Flash Lite: BREW discussion forum or you can leave comments here. Around the first week of August I'll create a version 2 of the FAQ.

This Saturday, I'll be hosting a live Q&A discussion to answer any questions you may have about developing Flash Lite 2.1 for BREW mobile phones.

Here's the details:

• When: 9am - 10:30am PST, Saturday, 8th of July
• Where: http://seminars.breezecentral.com/flashdev/ (via breeze)
• Who: anyone interested
• Format: Q&A and possibly some demos of using the tools
• Cost: free

Update: on Saturday make sure you login as a guest and I will try to create an FAQ from the discussion.

I'm now back from my vacation and wanted to give everyone some updates on things. You may have already heard the good news but in case you haven't there is a new platform for developers to create Flash Lite content for - BREW mobile phones.

Flash Lite 2.1 for BREW is now available via Adobe Labs and you can download the following bits:

• Post-Processor Plug-in for Flash Professional 8
• Flash Lite 2.1 for BREW Extension
• Developer Documentation

You can also post questions and discuss ideas in the Adobe Flash Lite: BREW forums.

I'll be frequenting the Flash Lite: BREW forum as well as the other Mobile and Devices forums to help those of you with questions.

If you were unable to attend the BREW 2006 Conference 2 weeks ago in San Diego and are interested in learning more about our initatives around Flash Lite for BREW, you can now download and view the presentations and recorded video sessions. These are available from the Qualcomm BREW 2006 press room site:

Creating Flash Applications on BREW Handsets
(Rupen Chanda, Founding Engineer, Mobile and Devices, Adobe)

• Video (55 min WMV file)
  
• Presentation (900kb PDF)

Flash & BREW: Improve Revenue with Rich Content
(Anup Murarka, Director, Technical Marketing, Adobe)

• Video (42 min WMV file) **at the 24:50 mark you can see some prototype applications that were developed by some of our key partners.
  
• Presentation (7.5MB PDF)

Yes, you read that right "Flash Lite 2.1 for BREW" is being shown today at the BREW Developer Conference today through Friday and we're very excited about showing some examples of what will be possible with Flash Lite on the BREW platform.

For me this has been and continues to be one of the best mobile Flash implementations I've been involved with over the past several years and I'm very interested in getting feedback from the broader developer community as to what they think.

Over the past month we've worked with a select group of key partners who created some really impressive prototype applications using Flash Lite 2.1 for BREW and the great thing is they also work on Nokia S60 handsets with very minimal changes. That's one advantage of developing applications with Flash Lite.

So you're probably interested in learning more about Flash Lite 2.1 for BREW and what it means to you, well we have quite a few links for you to take a look which just went live this morning:

• Flash Lite for BREW Product Page
  
• Flash Lite Development Center for BREW Developers
• Flash Lite for BREW Datasheet
• Flash Lite for BREW FAQ

We'll be providing some additional information on our Flash Lite dev center for BREW developers over the next several weeks but there should be enough data points for you to get a sense of what this means to you.

Take a look at the FAQ for some commonly asked questions and if you still have questions you can leave a comment and I'll reply as soon as I have time this week. Also we've set up a new email alias for anyone to contact us directly with questions about Flash Lite for BREW: flashlitebrew@adobe.com.

Oh and one more thing, we'll be having a Flash Lite for BREW public beta starting on July 3, 2006! If you're interested in participating please send an email to flashlitebrew@adobe.com with the subject "Flash Lite for BREW public beta".

As I mentioned yesterday I'll try to blog from the conference today to provide updates on things.

If you frequent by blog you've probably noticed that I haven't posted any new information for a few weeks and there's good reason for that - I've been very, very busy working on a new project that involves Flash Lite and BREW ;o)

Starting tomorrow (31 May) I'll be able to share more details of what we've been up to and if you're a Flash, Flash Lite or BREW developer I'm sure you'll be interested.

In the mean time I'm down here in San Diego today getting prepared for the BREW 2006 Conference which starts tomorrow and lasts through Friday. If you're going to be attending the conference you can stop by and visit our booth (#46) and we'll have two presentations: (Thursday) Creating Flash Applications on BREW Handsets and (Friday) Flash & BREW: Improve Revenue with Rich Content.

Expect daily updates from me this week about what we're doing here as well as some additional information.

Woohoo!!! This is awesome news and I wanted to let everyone know, especially developers in North America:

"Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced a strategic alliance with Verizon Wireless to start a mobile ecosystem built around Flash technology that will allow developers to create new interactive mobile content experiences for Verizon Wireless customers. Through this agreement, Verizon Wireless is expected to become the first wireless operator in North America to introduce Flash enabled handsets that use the technology to deliver a customized user experience. Developers will be able to create and offer new rich content, applications and data services based on Flash and targeted at these handsets."

Granted this is straight from the press release but I wanted to copy it here because it does a great job of describing what this new alliance between Verizon Wireless and Adobe means for Flash mobile developers.

So you probably have questions about this announcement and you can find more information at these links:

• Flash Lite Development Center for Verizon Wireless
• FAQ

If you have any questions after reading the FAQ post them here and I'll be sure to answer them as best as I can.