A special thanks to Thomas Joos for creating a Flash Lite conference guide for FITC Toronto. Like most conference guides, this mobile version includes information for all of the sessions, room locations, map of the conference location and a basic twitter client to stay in touch with friends- very cool. It will work on all Nokia S60 3rd edition or later devices and you can get more information as well as download installer files from his site.

Tomorrow during my session I'll be showing this application and other examples of how developers and brands are creating mobile applications that act as an extension of current/future web and desktop experiences.

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.

A reminder for those of you who have not yet registered for the Forum Nokia Flash Lite webinar tomorrow (15 April) - you can still sign-up. It will be a one hour webinar that I will be co-presenting with Stephen Ellis from Forum Nokia and we'll be discussing several topics around Flash Lite on Nokia devices including mobile web browsing and content creation.

Of course the Q&A portion of the webinar is where you can ask us direct questions so it's always interesting to hear what the developer community is thinking about.

Times for the webinar tomorrow 15 April are as follows, make sure to check the time for your location:

• Helsinki = 5pm (local)
• London = 3pm (local)
• New York = 10am (local)
• San Francisco = 7am (local)
  

For the month of April, Forum Nokia is dedicating several resources for developers to promote the awareness of their devices that support Flash Lite, tools for creating Flash Lite content and some videos of examples of Flash Lite applications that have been developed.

Also check out Kuneri Lite which is a tool set to extend the functionality of Flash Lite on Nokia S60 devices.

If you've already downloaded device profile #5 before 18 March you should re-download the .MXP package again. The reason for this is we found some incorrect values for XMLSocket and FLV support for the Nokia N95 profile and have fixed it. Just uninstall #5, and install the new version. For those of you who haven't downloaded the #5 profile this is a friendly reminder ;o)

Unless you've been away from the internet over the past 24 hours then you've seen news and commentary about Silverlight coming to Nokia devices.

With this announcement it validates what we've been doing for the past five years - leveraging our client run-time (Flash Player) for non-PC devices, primarily mobile phones. With Microsoft now porting Silverlight to a mobile phone manufacturer, it may be seen as an acknowledgment that having a consistent run-time across devices and platforms is key for developers and brand owners moving forward.

For media owners, large companies and developers being able to reuse assets and code originally created for the web for mobile devices saves time and allows them to maintain the branding and appearance of their content. This is true today with Flash web developers creating Flash Lite experiences and with the recent launch of AIR, these same developers can extend similar experiences to the desktop space on both Windows and Mac today and Linux later this year.

We have developed a strategic and productive relationship with Nokia over the past several years and this relationship will continue. Adobe and Nokia have worked closely together to deliver Flash Lite pre-installed on more than 70 Nokia mobile handsets including all S60 devices, most Series 40 devices and their N800 and N810 internet tablet devices. These are devices today that have Flash Lite pre-installed and can accept developer content - today.

If you take a step back and look at what our partners (Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, others) have done with Flash Lite, over 450 million Flash enabled handsets and devices have shipped worldwide and we are on-track to see 1 billion devices with Flash by 2010. This is done by our partners pre-installing Flash Lite on the devices so when consumers get their handsets, our technology is already there.

So if you're a Flash Lite developer or considering Flash you may be asking yourself "what does this mean for Flash Lite?" Short answer - not much. Until Microsoft and Nokia can provide more details around Silverlight then your guess is as good as mine. What's important for Flash Lite developers to know is you can continue to create content for Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other devices and distribute it to consumers, whether it's just for awareness or to monetize. Regarding Flash Lite - the tools, content emulation, community support, devices and distribution options are all available - today.

If you're a mobile developer or business decision maker considering any technology for mobile development then there are questions that you should have:

• What's the addressable market supporting the technology
• What's the designer/developer workflow
• What tools do I need
• Can I leverage my skills or do I need to learn new ones
• How do I distribute my content
  
• Is the content inside/outside the mobile browser
• What's the developer community like
• Can I reuse assets from the web
• Can this technology allow me to have a multi-screen experience
  

On a side note I'm here in Las Vegas and will be attending the Microsoft MIX08 conference over the next three days. A few months ago I registered for the conference assuming Microsoft would have some announcements and it looks like I guessed right. Silverlight on Nokia is one of them and starting tomorrow I'm sure there will be other announcements.

Obviously this is a great topic for discussion so please leave comments.

Today we've published several new resources to help developers understand the Flash Lite ecosystem and ways in which they can participate:

Understanding the Mobile Ecosystem
Written by Strategy Analytics, this 30 page PDF primer helps explains the basics of the mobile content marketplace and the options for delivering content to consumers phones. This white paper is not specific to Flash Lite but instead focuses on the broader mobile ecosystem and covers all mobile technologies. If you're a web developer interested in exploring the mobile ecosystem, this is a great resource.

How to protect Flash Lite content with OMA DRM 1.0
In this article, Alessandro Pace does an excellent job of explaining how to apply DRM to your Flash Lite SWF files to prevent them from being shared after downloaded by a consumer. It's technically oriented and includes some sample code to help explain things.

Also if you haven't yet already downloaded the Flash Lite 3 Standalone Developer Edition from Adobe Labs you can still do so. This standalone player will allow you to test your own or other peoples Flash Lite 3 SWF files.

Today Nokia announced their Q407 financial earnings report and they reported that in Q407 they shipped 133.5 million devices which is 40% of all devices shipped globally in that quarter (336 million).

Here are some highlights from 2007 compared to 2006:

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.

Forum Nokia has a new dedicated developer discussion board just for Flash Lite and if you're creating Flash Lite content for Nokia devices (S60 or Series 40 platforms) then check it out. It's a great resource as there are actual Forum Nokia employees that monitor the forum and answer questions.

In addition there's also the Adobe Flash Lite for Nokia discussion forum where Adobe employees from the mobile and devices team answer questions.

So there are two community based resources for sharing ideas and finding answers to specific Nokia+Flash Lite related issues. I'll be spending time in both forums to see what I can share as well as learn.

Great news, the waiting is over. Starting today developers can download the Flash Lite 3 Developer Edition for supported handsets via Adobe Labs. You can get all of the information on the site but here are a few key things to mention:

Developer Edition only
This Flash Lite 3 player is for developers only and is not for end-users (consumers) and can not be distributed with any Flash Lite content.

No IMEI required
The installer (SIS file) does not require a developer to provide their IMEI (also known as serial number) to Adobe in order to get the player. Any developer that has a supported device can install the player. There is a brief start-up splash screen that appears each time the player is launched - this is in place because it's the developer edition. Handsets that commercially ship with Flash Lite 3 pre-installed will not have this start-up splash screen.

Standalone Player only
The Flash Lite 3 Developer Edition is only the standalone player and will show up as an icon in the applications folder as "Flash". The pre-installed Flash Lite player that's already on a device will be in the same folder and called "Flash Player" - so there will be two similar icons. Testing of SWF files can only be done through the standalone player; web browser, screensaver and wallpaper content types are not supported.

Supported handsets
The Flash Lite 3 Developer Edition has only been certified by Adobe on the Nokia N95 (non-US 3G version). Technically it should work on any Nokia S60 3rd edition or later devices. Adobe has not certified Flash Lite 3 Developer Edition on any other Nokia S60 3rd edition devices and cannot guarantee that the player will work on them. Other Nokia S60 3rd edition or newer models include: 3250, 5500 Sport, 5700, 6110 Navigator, 6120 Classic, 6121 Classic, 6290, E50, E51, E60, E61, E61i, E62, E65, E70, E90, N71, N73, N73 Music Edition, N75, N76, N77, N80, N80 IE, N81, N81 8GB, N82, N91, N91 8GB, N92, N93, N93i, N95, N95 US 3G, N95 8GB.

Uninstalling a previous version of Flash Lite 3 Developer Edition
If you were a developer who submitted your IMEI number in October and received an early version of the Flash Lite 3 Developer Edition in October it's recommend you uninstall the current version and install this new version.

Developing Flash Lite 3 content
In order to create Flash Lite 3 content developers will need to update both Flash CS3 and Device Central CS3 - both are free updates.

So head on over to the site, download and install the player and share your thoughts with the community.

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.

Sometimes when you purchase a Nokia phone it's not from an operator but rather from a 3rd party and it's unlocked (not tied to an operator). This is usually the norm for me 99% of the time when I order new phones.

In these cases the phones don't come with the correct data connection settings for accessing your operators network and it can be difficult to find the right information. It's actually not difficult at all thanks to Nokia's Phone Settings web service which allows anyone to quickly get the correct phone settings for their particular phone model in a few minutes.

You provide the handset model, specify what country your operator is in, provide your mobile number and that's it. About a minute later (depending on your operator) an SMS configuration message will be sent to your phone and upon receiving it you just input a 4 digit confirmation code that the web service displays for you. Save the configuration settings and you're set.

I've found this to be a great time saver and at least once a week someone will ask me how to configure their phone for MMS, WAP and/or internet access. Problem solved.

Don't forget to sign-up for the Flash Lite online webinar "Symbian Signed - crash course for Flash developers". This live one-hour webinar will take place tomorrow (Wednesday 22 August) and start at 9am PST. Make sure you login at the correct time depending on your location/time zone.

If you're developing Flash Lite applications for Symbian OS devices (Nokia S60) this is a great session to get a better understanding of what the process is for getting your Flash Lite application "Symbian signed". For more developer information about Symbian you can go here.

As of 8 August there are 56 Nokia handsets that have Flash Lite pre-installed, either versions 1.1, 2.0 or 2.1. This breaks down to 33 S60 platform and 23 Series 40 platform models. To get a better sense of all of the models including what versions of Flash Lite they support, addressable screen size and supported content types, you can download this PDF that I created. If you're like me you'll print it out and have it posted in your cube or by your desk for easy reference.

This spec sheet is an aggregation of various data sources including Device Central, Forum Nokia, testing on actual devices and developer feedback.

We're in the process of updating the supported devices and Nokia developer pages on the Adobe mobile and devices dev center with this updated information.

I'll be updating this information about once a month and if you have any ideas of improvements or additional details you'd like to see please leave a comment here. The next update will include handset info for Sony Ericsson and BREW OS devices.

Oh and if you're curious, my two favorite Nokia handsets right now are the N95 and 8600 luna.

If you haven't already heard we've announced our upcoming MAX 2007 conferences - which are Adobe's annual designer/developer conferences. This year we'll have three conferences around the world to allow creative professionals, students and hobbyists to hear from speakers who are very knowledgeable with a wide range of topics including Flash Lite, Flash Cast, AIR, Flex, Flash, Dreamweaver, Premiere, etc... This year will be my 6 MAX US conference and I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone who is interested in developing mobile Flash applications/content as well as hearing from other speakers on what cool things they've been working on.

Here are the dates and locations of the MAX conferences:

• MAX US: Sept 30 - Oct 3 (Chicago)
• MAX Europe: Oct 15 - 18 (Barcelona, Spain)
• MAX Japan: Nov 1 - 2 (Tokyo, Japan)

For the US conference we currently have the following mobile related sessions scheduled:

• 20 Tricks to Improve Flash Lite Development
• Creating Flash Cast Channels for Verizon Wireless
  
• Creating Flash Lite Multiplayer Games
• Designing for Mobile Experiences
  
• Flash Lite 3 Development
• From Desktop to Mobile: New Revenue Opportunities
• Introduction to Adobe Creative Suite 3 Production Premium
  
• Introduction to Flash Lite 2

As the US conference date gets closer we'll be finalizing these sessions and speakers. For the other two regional MAX conferences we're putting together a list of topics to cover but if you plan on attending these and would like to see a specific mobile topic covered, please let me know by leaving a comment here.

One of the most commonly asked questions from developers is "how can I make money with Flash Lite?" Well now there's an answer - Handango.

Handango is the first of several ecosystem enablers that we're partnering with to provide a go-to-market opportunity for developers to sell their Flash Lite application and content for supported Nokia S60 and Series 40 handsets. By working with Handango, developers from around the world can now join the Handango Content Partner Program to participate in the Flash Lite ecosystem.

Handango is one of the leading providers of smartphone content globally and is now working with Adobe to enable developers to make money. Handango handles selling, marketing, distributing, and sales reporting for your Flash Lite applications and content.

So if you have some of your own Flash Lite applications or content that you want to sell, sign-up with the Handango Content Partner Program to get started.

Over the next several months we'll be announcing other mobile aggregators who will further expand the Flash Lite ecosystem.

If you've been interested in taking your existing Flash skills into the mobile space but were waiting for the right time, or you're existing mobile developer who is looking for a robust set of features, now might be a good time. I'm happy to announce that developers and end users can now download the Flash Lite 2.1 standalone player for supported Symbian devices for free!.

If you're not familiar with Flash Lite 2.1, it's based on the Flash 7 standard for content and contains the following features:

• XML Sockets
• Inline text support
• Dynamic XML data
• Device video playback
• Persistent data
• Powerful and dynamic media
• Text enhancements
• Action Script 2.0 support
• Synchronized device sound
• Compressed SWFs

If you have one of the following Nokia S60 handsets you can download a free SIS installer:

Nokia S60 3rd edition
- E50, E60, E61, E62, E70, N71, N72, N73, N75, N80, N91, N92, N93, 3250, 5500, 5500 sport

Nokia S60 2nd edition, feature pack 3
- N70, N90

Nokia S60 2nd edition, feature pack 2
- 6630, 6680, 6681, 6682

Copy the SIS file to your handset and install the player. After it's installed you will find a new icon called "Flash" - this is for Flash Lite 2.1. If you have a S60 3rd edition device you will have Flash Lite 1.1 pre-installed, and will have 2 icons. Both versions of Flash Lite can be on your handset at the same time and Flash Lite 2.1 is backwards compatible with 2.0 and 1.1 content.

A couple of things to mention:

• These new players are not IMEI locked, meaning you don't have to provide your handsets serial number before downloading the installer.
  
• As part of the EULA you agree to not redistribute the installer.
• This is only the standalone player; no other content type (wallpaper for example) is supported in this player.
  

There is additional information you can read about in the Adobe Flash Lite 2.1 Open OS FAQ that's posted on our mobile and devices dev center. There's a lot of good information in there that will answer most of your questions. If you have any additional questions you can post them here and I'll be answering them.

Also we have removed the Flash Lite 2.0 and 1.1 players from the Adobe online store since you can now get Flash Lite 2.1 for free.

Stay tuned, additional Flash Lite news to be posted soon...

It's not uncommon for a consumer in other regions of the world outside of the US (especially in Asia and Europe) to buy an "unlocked" handset. Unlocked refers to a handset that is not tied to a particular service provider's network. What's the advantage of this? Well if you're interested in a particular GSM handset that your service provider doesn't offer, then you can buy that handset, drop your SIM card into and use it.

It's what I do, using my Cingular SIM card but testing between 6-8 different devices daily. The nice thing is all of the GSM handsets I have are unlocked which allows me to use the handsets here in the US and when I travel abroad. For example during my most recent trip, I was able to use my Nokia N73 in Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok and Seoul using my same US number - very nice.

There's a great article on the Business Week web site that came out today that describes this new trend here in the US and what it may end up meaning for service providers here as well as meeting consumer demand for newer and more innovative handsets. The article focuses on Nokia and Motorola handsets but there's also a mention of Sony Ericsson and the idea that the much rumored iPhone will be unlocked.

On the Adobe Mobile and Devices Developer Center we've posted a new white paper (PDF) for Nokia developers interested in learning how to control the Softkey positions for handsets that allow for different screen orientations like the Nokia E70. You can use these with Flash Lite 1.1 and 2.0 content. I'll be posting some sample FLA files next week that demonstrate how to use these new FSCommand2() commands.

"Persistent Data: Saving User Preferences and Game Scores" is a new Flash Lite 2 article available on the Adobe Mobile and Devices developer center. Written by Mariam Dholkawala (lead Flash programmer for Indiagames) this article contains sample code and technical information about how to implement shared objects for your own purposes.

One cool thing about Flash Lite is how many new handsets that are shipping with the 1.1 player pre-installed. Part of my responsibilities at Adobe is to test existing Flash Lite 1.1 content on new mobile phones, create new content and applications and to share that information with the mobile developer community.

These best practices will soon be provided via white papers, technical articles and sample files. Some of the things that we're documenting include:

• Various screen resolutions (176x208, 240x320, 352x416)
• Screen orientation (portrait vs landscape)
• Location of soft keys
• Consistent API support
• Flash content types supported
• Optimization techniques for various media (images, audio, video)
  

Currently I'm testing on the following Nokia S60 mobile phones: N90, N71, E61, N91, N80, E70, N72, and E60.

Even this press release has nothing to do with Flash Lite, it's a great example of how Adobe's different software products can be when used with handsets. Adobe and Nokia announced today that Adobe Premiere Elements 2.0 software for video capture, editing and sharing will ship with the new Nokia N93.

With all of the new capabilities of the N93 it makes sense that they would offer an easy to use and feature rich video editing software for consumers who may not have any existing video editing software.

Here's some good news to start your weekend, we've updated our Nokia developer center pages so information is easier to find as well as providing detailed information on the handsets that will ship with Flash Lite.

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/devices/nokia.html: this is the main page for developers interested in learning more about creating Flash Lite content for all supported Nokia handsets.

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/devices/nokia_s40.html: this page is for all Flash Lite information that's specific to supported Series 40 devices.

http://www.macromedia.com/devnet/devices/nokia_s60.html: this page is for all Flash Lite information that's specific to supported S60 devices.

We'll be updating all of these pages with new articles and tips and tricks over the next few weeks to help developers who are creating specific types of Flash Lite content for these devices (standalone content, wallpapers, screensavers, etc...). Let me know what you think of these changes in addition to what types of information (articles, samples) you're interested in seeing.

You might have heard about upcoming handsets from Nokia that will ship with Flash Lite 1.1 pre-installed on them. The first S60 3rd edition devices will be the following:

• 3250 (now shipping!)
  
• N71
• N80
• N91
• E60
• E61
• E70

As each of these handsets become available to market I'll be promoting them on my blog as well as offering some specific tips for creating Flash Lite 1.1 content because of the different screen sizes and orientations.

There have been some questions in the community about whether or not Flash Lite 2 content can be submitted for the Forum Nokia 3rd Edition Challenge, which ends March 30, 2006. The answer is yes, you can submit either Flash Lite 2 or 1.1 content if you've already registered for the challenge.

By the way the registration deadline for the challenge has already passed (December 15, 2005) and if you didn't register you don't have to worry about it.

If you're a current Flash Lite developer or interested in becoming one I've got some exciting news for you. Forum Nokia is sponsoring their Series60 3rd Edition challenge for developers to submit their content into one of four categories, one of them being Flash:

• Enterprise applications
• Location aware applications and services
• Mobile Music applications
• Applications using Macromedia Flash

The first place prize for each of the four categories is 25,000 Euros in addition to some othere really cool benefits. You can read more about the specific Flash portion of the contest here and the full competition details over at Forum Nokia.

For the Flash Category you can enter any application that would follow into one of the following genres: gaming, media and entertainment, tutorials and interactive help, personal, enterprise, productivity, experimental or other.

Here are the important dates:

• December 15th: registration ends
• March 31, 2006: deadline for submissions
  
• April 28, 2006: finalists announced (5 per category)
  

You're probably wondering what you need to participate:

• Flash Professional 8 (to create your Flash Lite content)
• Flash Lite 1.1 CDK (to help you understand best practices)
• Supported handset (to test your content on)
  
• Flash Lite 1.1 player (for testing content on your handset)
• Register by December 15th for the competition
  

So what does 25,000 Euros convert to (approximately)...

• 29,000 USD (US Dollars)
  
• 16,800 GBP (Great Britain Pounds)
  
• 49,000 SGD (Singapore Dollars)
• 3.4 million JPY (Japanese Yen)
• 227,000 HKD (Hong Kong Dollars)
  
• 40,000 AUD (Australia Dollars)
• 1.3 million INR (Indian Rupees)
• 1.2 million THB (Thailand Bhat)
• 63,000 BRL (Brazilian Reais)
  

Good luck to everyone and remember to read the details of the challenge for more information. Remember to register by December 15th - you have until March 31st to submit your final content. If you have any questions you can leave a comment and I'll reply.