Adobe CS4 started shipping a few weeks ago and one of the updated tools is Device Central CS4, which allows designers and developers to learn about the capabilities of mobile devices, create new projects based on a device or groups of devices and emulate mobile content.  Some of the new features of Device Central CS4 include:

• on-line device library
• automated testing
• snapshots of content
• video capture of content
• mobile project management
• accurate network performance
• specifying security settings
  
• sending files to devices using Bluetooth
  
• integration with After Effects CS4
  

To help you better understand some of these new features, Liz Myers (one of the members of the Flash Lite community) has collaborated with Lynda.com to record five video walk throughs of the new features:

• Introducing Device Central CS4 (3:55 in duration)
  
• Automated testing of mobile content (3:41 duration)
• Creating After Effects mobile compositions (2:25 duration)
  
• Managing mobile projects (1:14 duration)
• Using the online device library (1:55 duration)
  

If you find these types of videos benneficial leave a comment to let us know.

We've released update #7 of our device profiles for Device Central CS3 and you can download it here.  It's a 40MB download and includes 57 new device profiles and updates to 204 existing device profiles, bringing our total # of devices to over 500.  Because there are updates to existing device profiles make sure you've installed the other updates (1-6) before installing this one.  There's a lot of work that goes into our device intelligence database from various groups and one of the end results are the device profiles that we bundle and make available as updates.

With Device Central CS4 (which we announced yesterday) we're changing the behavior of device updates to not be something that a developer has to download but instead providing a mechanism within the tool for developers to have access to our online device library (a new feature).  This way a developer or designer can browse by handset manufacturer, Flash Lite version, etc... and only add those device profiles to their local device library (on their computer) that they're interested in.

Yesterday Forum Nokia released their "NFL" spec for packaging Flash Lite content for supported Nokia Series 40 devices.  For those of you in the US you may think National Football League which started a few weeks ago but this is not that ;o)

The easiest way to think of the .NFL file format is it's a .ZIP file that's renamed to .NFL and contains at least one .SWF file, a bitmap file for the icon and a descriptor file (.INF). If the Flash Lite content also requires additional .SWF or other media files they can be included in the package as long as the information is listed in the descriptor file.

So I spent some time yesterday (about 30 minutes) and created a simple Flash Lite animation and made my own .NFL package and thought I'd share my experience with you.

• Source files (.FLA, .SWF, .PNG, .INF)
• .NFL file (copy to a supported Nokia Series 40 device)

I downloaded the NFL spec from the Forum Nokia site and read through it.  All of the information is included in the 7 page PDF and is very easy to follow given they included sample code and it's well written.  Next I went through my drawer of devices and found a supported Series 40 device, 6500 Classic.  It's a 240x320 device that has Flash Lite 2.1 pre-installed - cool.


So then I opened up Device Central CS3, found the 6500 Classic, then selected "File > New Document In > Flash" and then selected the Create button.


Now that I was in Flash CS3 I created a simple bouncing ball animation and specified it to launch fullscreen:  fscommand2("FullScreen",true);   I tested in Device Central, it worked so I then had my SWF file ready to go. 


Next was to create the icon so I opened up Photoshop and created a new document that was 43x43.  Added some random shapes and colors and then exported as a PNG with transparency.  Make sure you have it set to 256 colors in your PNG settings otherwise you may experience an error message when trying to launch the .NFL file on a device.

So the .SWF and .PNG files are ready, now to create the descriptor file:

FL-Version: 1.1
FL-Icon: bouncingBall.png
FL-Name: Bouncing Ball
FL-Root: bouncingBall.swf
 
You can refer to the .NFL spec PDF for specific details but all I did was create a new text file with the above text and saved it as "descriptor.inf".


Now to create the .NFL file - this was easy.  I selected my three files (bouncingBall.swf, bouncingBall.png, and descriptor.inf) and made a .ZIP file.  I then renamed the .ZIP file to .NFL.

Last step is to get it on my 6500 Classic so I just transferred it from MacBook Pro via Bluetooth and it showed up in the Received files folder, which is located in the Gallery (Menu > Gallery > Received files).


The icon I created shows up, the name of the application that I specified in the descriptor file shows and if I select the app it launches and I see a bouncing yellow ball that's full screen.


Here are some additional details for those of you who are new to Flash Lite development or are interested in Nokia Series 40 devices.

What's "packaging"?
Packaging is a term used in mobile development to describe the process for gathering and compressing files together into a specific file format that's then interpreted by a device.  Once on the device the package can be installed and/or launched.  In the mobile space there are several packaging formats for different mobile platforms:

• Symbian = .SIS
• Windows Mobile = .CAB
• Java applications = .JAR
• Nokia Series 40 = .NFL

If you're a web developer using Flash or Flex and are thinking about creating AIR applications then it's similar - you're packaging your assets into a .AIR file that then can be downloaded and installed on Windows, Mac or Linux computers.  For Flash developers the workflow is very similar to creating an AIR application:

• AIR application = Flash > Packaging to .AIR > distribution
• Flash Lite content (NFL) = Flash > Device Central > Packaging to .NFL > distribution
• Flash Lite content (SIS) = Flash > Device Central > Packaging to .SIS > distribution

What devices does .NFL support?
The .NFL file format is supported on Nokia Series 40 devices that are 5th edition, Feature Pack 1 and newer.  If the grand scheme of things the Series 40 devices are commonly referred to as "mass market" or "feature phones".  The "high end' or "smart phones" are the S60 devices, like the N95, N82 and others.  To date there are 22 compatible Series 40 devices that have been announced and/or shipping in market.  They include the following models:

• 3120 Classic
• 3555
• 3600 Slide
• 5220 XpressMusic
• 5310 XpressMusic
• 5610 XpressMusic
• 6212 Classic
• 6300i
• 6500 Classic
• 6500 Slide
• 6600 Fold
• 6600 Slide
• 7210 Supernova
• 7310 Supernova
• 7510 Supernova
• 7610 Supernova
• 7900 Prism
• 7900 Crystal Prism
• 8800 Arte
• 8800 Saphire Arte
• 8800 Carbon Arte

Why is this important?
For some time Flash Lite developers have developed content for Series 40 devices but there hasn't been an easy way for them to package their content and distribute it.  With the .NFL spec from Forum Nokia, anyone can create a .NFL package and make it available for end-users to download (OTA, Bluetooth, etc...).  You can also take a Flash Lite application that was developed for Nokia S60 devices and package it for Series 40 devices.  Of course depending on the specific features that the developer used in their Flash Lite application for S60 devices some features may or may not work on a compatible Series 40 device.  This is where using Device Central, testing on actual devices and asking the community to assist in testing can help out.

Now that you have more facts about .NFL and Flash Lite I encourage you to start looking into creating various types of Flash Lite content for these mass market devices.  If you have any additional questions about .NFL leave them here and I'll answer them.

Last Thursday we released the device profile update #6 for Device Central and you can download it here.

Update #6 includes 173 device profiles:

• 63 new device profiles
  
• 110 device profiles updated based on partner and community feedback

For the new devices profiles they include the following devices:

• NTT DoCoMo (16)
• KDDI (9)
• HTC (3)
• Nokia (12)
• Samsung (5)
• Softbank (12)
• Sony Ericsson (6)
  

With this update the total number of devices available in the device library is over 460 and represents devices that designers and developers can target for creating various types of Flash Lite content.

Remember that you need to have installed the previous updates first before installing update #6 to ensure your profiles are up to date.

If you have any comments about a device profile please leave a comment and I'll pass it along to our device intelligence team.

Just a head's up that the next device profile update (#5) for Device Central CS3 will be released in about a month. There will be several new device profiles and some updates to existing ones. In the mean time you can make sure your computer is up to date - download the current device profile updates now (#1-#4) and the Flash Lite 3 update if you haven't done so already.

This morning we released device profile #4 for Device Central CS3. After installing this update it will bring the total number of Flash Lite devices to 364. You can do 3 main things with Device Central CS3:

1. Get information about supported Flash devices
2. Create new projects based on a selected device or group of devices
3. Emulate various types of mobile content, including Flash Lite
   

Before installing make sure you've done the following:

1. You must first download and install the Flash® Lite™ 3 Update for Device Central CS3.
2. Verify you've installed the previous updates (#1-#3) first before installing #4 because #4 includes some changes to previous device updates.

Here's a breakdown of the new Flash Lite devices:

New Device Profiles

• DoCoMo Mitsubishi D704i
• DoCoMo Mitsubishi D904i
• DoCoMo Fujitsu F704i
• DoCoMo Fujitsu F883iES
• DoCoMo Fujitsu F904i
• DoCoMo NEC N704imyu
• DoCoMo NEC N904i
• DoCoMo Panasonic P704i
• DoCoMo Panasonic P704iµ
• DoCoMo Panasonic P904i
• DoCoMo Sharp SH704i
• DoCoMo Sharp SH904i
• DoCoMo Sony Ericsson SO704i
• DoCoMo Sony Ericsson SO903iTV
• KDDI Casio Hitachi W52CA
• KDDI Casio Hitachi W53CA
• KDDI Casio Hitachi W52H
• KDDI Kyocera W44KII
• KDDI Kyocera A5526K
• KDDI Kyocera A5528K
• KDDI Panasonic W52P
• KDDI Sanyo A5527SA
• KDDI Sanyo W52SA
• KDDI Sanyo W53SA
• KDDI Sharp W52SH
• KDDI Sony Ericsson W52S
• KDDI Toshiba W53T
• KDDI Toshiba W54T
• LG KS10
• Nokia 3109
• Nokia 3500
• Nokia 6267
• Sony Ericsson K850i
• Sony Ericsson S500c
• Sony Ericsson T650i
• Sony Ericsson T658c
• Sony Ericsson W580c
• Sony Ericsson W910i
• Softbank Samsung 805SC
• Softbank Panasonic 810P
• Softbank Sharp 812SHs
• Softbank Sharp 814SH
• Softbank Sharp 815SH
• Softbank Sharp 816SH
• Softbank Sharp 912SH
• Softbank Sharp 913SH
• Softbank Toshiba 814T
• Softbank Toshiba 815T
• Softbank Toshiba 912T

Expanded/Improved Device Profiles

• KDDI Casio Hitachi W43HII
• KDDI Kyocera W44K
• KDDI Sanyo W43SA
• KDDI Sony Ericsson W44S
• KDDI Toshiba A5523T
• KDDI Toshiba W46T
• KDDI Toshiba W47T
• Nokia 5200
• Nokia 5300
• Nokia 6085
• Nokia 6125
• Nokia 6131
• Nokia 6151
• Nokia 6290
• Nokia 6300
• Nokia 7390
• Nokia E90
• Nokia N76
• Nokia N95
• Sony Ericsson K600
• Sony Ericsson K600c
• Sony Ericsson K600i
• Sony Ericsson K606c
• Sony Ericsson K606i
• Sony Ericsson K608c
• Sony Ericsson K608i
• Sony Ericsson K610iM
• Sony Ericsson S500i
• Sony Ericsson V600i
• Sony Ericsson V800
• Sony Ericsson W300i
• Sony Ericsson W550c
• Sony Ericsson W550i
• Sony Ericsson W580i
• Sony Ericsson W600c
• Sony Ericsson W600i
• Sony Ericsson W610i
• Sony Ericsson W660i
• Sony Ericsson W710i
• Sony Ericsson W712a
• Sony Ericsson W810i
• Sony Ericsson W830a
• Sony Ericsson W830c
• Sony Ericsson W830i
• Sony Ericsson W850i
• Sony Ericsson W880i
• Sony Ericsson Z800i
• Softbank Sharp 910SH
• Softbank Sharp 911SH
• Softbank Toshiba 811T
• Generic Flash Lite 2.0 16 240x320
• Generic Flash Lite 2.0 32 240x320
• Generic Flash Lite 2.1 16 240x320
• Generic Flash Lite 2.1 32 240x320
• Generic Flash Lite 2.1 16 320x240
• Generic Flash Lite 2.1 32 320x240

There's a brief article in the Australian PC Authority magazine about using Bridge & Device Central CS3 for creating Flash Lite content.

We've just posted a recorded presentation on the Adobe mobile and devices developer center that discusses the benefits of using Device Central for developing mobile content.

It's about 5 minutes long and includes some narration, screenshots and some video. It's a good starting point if you're interested in learning more about the mobile development process using Adobe tools.

I'm happy to announce that we now have available our first device profile update for Adobe Device Central CS3. There are 3 ways you can download the update (11.4MB):
- go to the direct URL in your browser from our new site, Adobe Device Central Online
- in the Device Central start window click the "device updates" button
- in the Device Central menu bar select Help > Updates...

This update contains 39 new device profiles from all regions of the world, many released between January to April 2007, as well as updates to 7 existing profiles. With this update you will have access to 265 device profiles as part of Device Central with most of them for supporting Flash Lite content in addition to other mobile media types.

New Device Profiles

• DoCoMo Fujitsu F903i
• DoCoMo Mitsubishi D903i
• DoCoMo Motorola M702iG
• DoCoMo Motorola M702iS
• DoCoMo NEC N601i
• DoCoMo NEC N703iD
• DoCoMo NEC N903i
• DoCoMo Panasonic P903i
• DoCoMo Sony-Ericsson SO903i
• KDDI Casio Hitachi E03CA
• KDDI Casio Hitachi W43HII
• KDDI Kyocera W44K
• KDDI Sanyo W43SA
• KDDI Sony-Ericsson W44S
• KDDI Toshiba A5523T
• KDDI Toshiba W46T
• KDDI Toshiba W47T
• Nokia E61i
• Nokia E65
• Nokia N77
• Nokia N91
• Nokia N95
• Nokia 6290
• Reigncom iriver Clix
• Reigncom iriver U10
• SoftBank Nokia 705NK
• SoftBank Samsung 707SC
• SoftBank Samsung 709SC
• SoftBank Sharp 910SH
• SoftBank Sharp 911SH
• SoftBank Toshiba 811T
• Sony-Ericsson W610i
• Sony-Ericsson W880i
• Verizon LG VX8100
• Verizon LG VX8300
• Verizon LG VX8500
• Verizon LG VX9900
• Verizon Samsung SCH-A930
• Verizon Samsung SCH-A990

Expanded/Improved Device Profiles

• DoCoMo Mitsubishi D701iWM
• DoCoMo Mitsubishi D851iWM
• DoCoMo NEC N506iSII
• DoCoMo NEC N701iECO
• DoCoMo Panasonic P506iCII
• DoCoMo Panasonic P851i
• DoCoMo Sony-Ericsson SO505i

Instructions on how to download and install the new device profiles are available on the device profile page.

Starting today you can purchase the version of CS3 that you need and for those of you who have done so, planning or doing so or are still waiting you now have access to several new items of information about Adobe Device Central CS3. Things like an overview of the features, tutorials and articles that we plan on updating every few weeks and an FAQ section for any questions you may have at this time.

One of the cool things are the 4 video tutorials we've created to give you a better sense of the Device Central workspace as well as how it integrates with the various supported point products.

We value your feedback so let us know what additional information you'd like us to make available on the Device Central site.

For those of you who were unable to attend my online webinar yesterday where I walked through the new device intelligence and mobile content emulation features of Adobe Device Central CS3 and the integrated mobile workflow with Adobe CS3 tools, the recorded webinar is now available for viewing.

During the 45 minutes I show how designers and developers can create and test various types of mobile content using Adobe Device Central CS3, Flash CS3 Professional, Photoshop CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, Illustrator CS3 and Bridge CS3.

There were several questions asked at the end of the webinar that I answered, however if you have any additional questions after watching the recording you can leave them here and I'll answer them.

John Nack pinged me today with a link to an article from Japan (English version or Japanese version) about artists who are designing visually stunning wallpapers, screensavers and menus using Flash Lite. It's not that often that these types of imagery for mobile phones is discussed and seen outside Japan and it's great that Sakaguchi-san took the time to share the work of some of the top artists there. Japan has such an expressive and fun culture, you can see creativity all around you from fashion, to entertainment to their mobile phones.

With the upcoming integrated designer features of Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Device Central there will be even more opportunities for designers to easily preview their designs within the aspects of specific devices by designing for specific screen sizes.

OK, so now you've had a chance to use Photoshop CS3 beta and you may be interested in how Device Central fits into a designers workflow. I'm going to walk you through a sequence of screens of how a designer can use the integration between Photoshop CS3 and Device Central. Learn more at the Mobile Content Creation with Adobe Photoshop CS3 (beta) site.

If you haven't heard already you can now go and download a public beta of Adobe Photoshop CS3 from Adobe Labs. There are a lot of cool new features in Photoshop CS3 for you to try out, including a beta version of Adobe Device Central.

We decided to include a beta version of Device Central with the Photoshop CS3 beta to give you a taste of how Adobe is working to facilitate the workflow for creating mobile content. Device Central is an integrated tool in Photoshop CS3 beta, enabling you to design, preview, and test mobile bitmap content such as static wallpapers or UI mock-ups for applications.

In order to help beta users with any questions they may have about using Device Central with Photoshop CS3, we've set up an official support page. I will be adding more specific information as well as some video tutorials and sample files which will be available over the weekend.

If you're a Photoshop user or graphical designer and interested in creating content for your phone or other phones, Device Central is a great way to get started and experiment.