Multimedia advice

Designing interactives for mobile devices

Planning and designing mobile versions of interactives has become increasingly more important as our audience depends more on iPhones, BlackBerry devices and other cellphones. But wait, Flash doesn’t work on mobile devices, right? Not entirely … there might be hope for Flash developers.

One of my “To-Do’s” is to research interactive development for mobile devices. I’m still in the beginning stages, but I’m excited to dive in because frankly, the possibilities are exciting. But, let’s first start with the background of why, how and when before we get our hands dirty with the software and code …

In the past month, 100 users visited multimedia content on Roanoke.com. Although this is relatively a small percentage of users, it is important to note because there were only 25 last month. If this is the trend across most sites, we need to start thinking about creating multiple versions of our content, both for computers and mobile devices. Developers need to keep up as technology booms with the invention of tablets, the Kindle and other wireless devices. Anyone complaining yet with the extra load? Thank Adobe CS4 for making it quite easy to integrate mobile versions into your interactive content.

In my preliminary research, I discovered that CS4 features several options, including the Adobe Device Central CS4. Unfortunately, I haven’t dabbled in CS4 yet (although I am excited about my student discounts now!) Here are details, straight from the Adobe team:

“Adobe® Device Central CS4 software simplifies the production of innovative and compelling content for mobile phones and consumer electronics devices. Save time by automating testing and simulating the network performance of mobile content across a dynamically updated library of device profiles.”

Sounds neat, right? I’d be interested to hear if anyone has had the ability to test this out.

Next is the development of Flash Lite 3, which excites me just watching the promo videos on their site. If you are the type of person that likes to explore, check out this page of demos. If you like to sit back and learn, watch this hour-long webinar on Flash Lite development with Adobe Sr. Product Manager Peter Kacandes and Robert Burdick. (There are some technical glitches and it mainly focuses on Nokia devices, but if you have the time it’s worth a look.)

For those curious about Flash development for iPhones, it looks like there has been progress, although quite slow. Read this post by Will Park of IntoMobile, a site that focuses on mobile technology.

Yes, I have just thrown a lot of links at you. But, the first step of attempting something new is to do A LOT of research beforehand to make sure you know what you’re doing.

If anyone else has also been researching the integration of Flash and mobile devices, or, even better, if you have attempted a version, please share!

Other posts that might interest you:

• How to get started building an iPhone Web app
• “Django 1.0 Template Development” book review
• A gentle introduction to the Django Web framework

© 18 November 2008 Innovative Interactivity (II).