Apparently all you need to get the scoop on a major company's product roadmap is a snapshot of a PowerPoint presentation on FlashLite. Nokia's coming lineup was revealed in a special presentation about Macromedia Studio 8 for press in Taipei. In addition the knowledge that FlashLite will be on some of these coming phones let's us know that FlashLite will be available for Series 40. According to Symplification.com, this means FlashLite is quickly becoming a serious alternative to Java (J2ME) for phone applications. This means Flash-based apps will have a larger audience and FlashLite will start having the opportunity to expand to more consumers via phone. The only question is whether this product leak will have any adverse effect on FlashLite for Nokia (I doubt it, leaks mean you're products stay on the public's mind).

via Engadget

If you're a FlashLite developer then you're probably also on the go all the time. Now you can keep up to date with all of the latest for the Macromedia Mobile User Group via their new feed reader application for Flash Lite enabled devices. The RSS section of Kero has been updated to include this new application for your downloading pleasure. Plus Alexandro, Mobile Flash extraordinaire, has made Kero available for free to the public so there is really no excuse for you not to have it already installed.

Latest Katrina update: University of New Orleans has a temporary contact line at LSU

Here I am trying to formulate a blog entry about the Sony Ericsson w800i coming with FlashLite player pre-installed (thanks for the heads up Device54) and Engadget decides to give one away. They are asking all aspiring designers to submit t-shirt designs including the current Engadget logo. The winner gets a free Sony Ericsson w800 Walkman phone. First runner up gets a Bluetooth headset and second runner up gets a gift certificate to the music download service of their choice. This would be a great time to show off you design skills and win a phone to test your development skills on. Head over to Engadget for full details.

Scott Janousek wants Macromedia to start a third Flash certification track for FlashLite. He says this could help Macromedia promote FlashLite development and get more content available to mobile companies. I don't know if this third track is needed, but if Macromedia decides to follow other tech industry models then FlashLite certification may not be a bad idea. The only issue I see is test naming. I would prefer to tell people I'm Moble Flash certified rather than FlashLite certified just because the word Lite (spoken, not written) has a connotation of Basic or less than professional. Then the certification should cover more than FlashLite for phones. It would need to include development experience for Flash Player for Pocket PC and FlashCast (which has some sort of certification already, according to the comments on Janousek's site).

I'm at the NOMMUG meeting and we're watching a Macromedia Breeze presentation on Flash 8 (and Studio 8 of course). They are currently discussing the new FlashLite testing in Flash 8. You can export and test for each and every device that is supported. You don't need to buy that phone anymore! Finally I can start making games for those Japanese girls.

So I'm looking at the NOMMUG site for the last post and I notice the link to the upcoming DesignFest '05 in Toronto (special rates for MMUGers, to bad I'm broke). One of the speakers, casual Flash game developer Brandon Flowers, is set to give a talk on FlashLite game design for cell phones and how to appeal to that ever growing market of female casual gamers. He will be presenting an in-depth case study of Japanese girl gamers and ways to design and market games specifically to them. After mulling this for a while, I have come to the conclusion that all those booth babes at Japanese tech shows flaunting the latest and greatest in cellular goodness with a strangely sexy school girl flair aren't there to convince geeks to buy Sony. They are there for the FlashLite. Therefore, if you want the perfect tech-savvy Asian girl you need to get into FlashLite design.

Image via Engadget caption contest

The Studio 8 update comes with a few changes, including the end of the Flash standard or professional choice. Studio 8 will only be bundled with professional and designers who don't need the full package can choose to only buy the stripped down Flash Basic 8. Flash Basic has only a subset of Flash 8 features available and is meant as a starter Flash that will allow everyone to get animated. Basic does not include Flash Lite (Flash for cellphones, smartphones and pdas) export support and has stripped down video manipulation capabilities.

I think the seperation of Flash Basic from the studio package creates a non-developer option for bloggers and vloggers who want to start creating their own Flash but don't need the full Studio package. Plus younger designers will be able to step into Flash early and then step up to a professional package later on.

FlashLite (mobile Flash) uses ActionScript based in Flash 5 and 4. The age of these versions may make it hard to find documentation and online help when developing applications and content for FlashLite. Luckily Casario has recently uploaded the full Flash 5 and 4 documentation to the FlashLite coders list on Yahoo Groups for all of you searching for that ever illusive documentation. If you're interested in Flash development for mobile devices be sure to join the Yahoo group for FlashLite developers as well so you can bounce ideas off other mobile flash developers. This could also be a good way to help encourage those of you looking for more mobile content to get into the wide world of development. Join us, you know you want to.