Dale Rankine's Forum Nokia Blog

An update to our experience selling on Ovi Store

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 05:29:38 +0300

A little while back I suggested that I would try and be forthcoming with our sales numbers through Ovi so that the Flash development community could see what was happening behind the scenes with us on this new sales channel. This certainly wasn’t to say that I thought Moket’s content would be the biggest selling through the store (far from it) but I thought it would be helpful since we have been in the Ovi Store from the start.

As some of you will know, Ovi’s reporting screens were removed for quote some time while they were “fixed”, and have just become available again over the weekend. Here’s what I can show you now in terms of how things have been progressing for us:

Now I know these numbers aren’t changing the world (Mills, that’s for you), but you can clearly see a big gap between the top 2 selling items and the rest. Why? Is it because they’re better games? No. Do they have better position on the deck? In a way, yes. You see, we have Cipher and GRORBS available for Nokia’s touch-screen devices (S60 5th Ed) as well as S60 3rd Ed key-based devices, and I’ve made it clear before that there’s a strong skew towards the touch screen devices (or at least there has been) on the Ovi store because the default device that was used to filter the visible content was the 5800 XpressMusic . Currently if I go to the Ovi Store, the default device is a Nokia E71, but don’t get me started about why this also isn’t a great option (they’ve taken off the S40 device they had there for some reason which escapes me at the moment).

So I think it’s fair to say that during the first couple of months selling on Ovi, you would have been doing better if your content was available on a 5800 XpressMusic or N97. Other than that, I’m not sure the numbers for us have been all that much to write home about, as they say.

Geographically it’s very interesting, as I think the top selling regions (and correct me if I’m wrong) were amongst some of the early adopters of the 5800 XpressMusic, so there are conceivably more of these touch devices in those markets (however like I said, I may be wrong). I certainly can’t think of too many other reasons as to why we’re doing comparatively well in Russia

Still, it’s early days for Ovi. There’s been a lot happening behind the scenes, responding to issues that the team knows are there, and tweaking things to try and improve the experience. I think there’s a fair way to go however, and certainly a lot of the changes we’re seeing or wanting should have happened prior to flipping the switch on this. But looking forward, I think for Flash developers this still represents an important platform to be on, and one that I’m sure will continue to mature as time goes on.

And remember if you DO have Flash content published on Ovi Store, you can have it listed on OviFlash.com to hopefully increase some awareness (and who knows, maybe sales?!) of your content.

Buying through the Ovi Store

Tue, 26 May 2009 15:49:55 +0300

I was very happy today to see Nokia's Ovi Store launch to the public, and to see a lot of my own content in the store from day one. I think it's a very exciting time to be in mobile development, but particularly for Flash developers, since Ovi represents a huge new opportunity for Flash mobile developers to get their content distributed easily to literally millions of consumers around the world.

Thought I’d give you a quick snapshot of the purchasing process in Ovi Store on the mobile client as it happened when I purchased Darren Osadchucks’s Poker Solitaire Flash Lite game …

Here’s the general flow when purchasing content on your device, using the operator billing method:

Now a few points to make …

I think the process was pretty smooth and I didn’t encounter any issues or problems at all when purchsing. Given that there are a few more payment options than some other app store experiences (and when I say “other”, you all know who I mean!), there were a lot more clicks required to get to the point where I’ve bought, installed and launched the application I wanted.

Also, once you complete the entire process, you are still in the Ovi client, on the application’s page showing the “Download completed” status bar message, but you still have the option to “Open File”. I thought that this was referring now to the app I had just installed, but it’s actually still referring to the installer. If I click it now, it tried to install it again, rather than launching the already installed application. I restarted the Ovi client just to make sure, and found that it still wanted to launch the installer. I guess I can understand this in that at least it knows you have already bought the app before, and could easily re-install it from here if you needed to. However it might also have been nice to have the ability to launch the actual game from here.

Overall though it was a pretty good experience, and a lot better than previous experiences I’ve had buying content on Nokia devices. I suggest that you always write a review, or rate the content that you’ve bought (good and bad) as it really helps customers to see what content is “active” with other customers, and hopefully if it’s a good rating, will also help to distinguish good content in what will be a pretty crowded marketplace I’m sure as it moves forward.

So off you go - go and buy something and help feed mobile developers and their children!

Disabling the Virtual Keypad in Flash Lite 3 on Touch Screen Devices

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:19:56 +0300

Just a quick tip for those Flash mobile developers out there playing with Flash Lite 3.0 and the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic touch screen device. By default the 5800 (and presumably other future S60 5th Edition touch screen devices such as the N97) displays a virtual keypad in the Flash Lite 3.0 standalone player. Even if you have included the ActionScript for playing the SWF at fullscreen [ fscommand2("FullScreen", true"); ], the virtual keypad will break full screen and take up screen real estate in the player, as you can see in the image below.

The way to avoid this is to add another line of ActionScript immediately before the fullScreen command -

fscommand2("DisableKeypadCompatibilityMode");

I personally don't think this is an ideal solution for Flash Lite on touch screen devices. I understand the use case for where a virtual keypad (which includes the 4-way directional keys, enter key and 2 soft keys) might be required with touch-based apps, but why not have it so that you can toggle it on an off, and also have it float over the top of the full screen content rather than making it look broken?

Anyway, in the meantime, if you're developing cool touch-based Flash Lite 3.0 apps for the Nokia devices then keep this code snippet in mind and don't get caught out.

Register now for the Flash Lite Developer Challenge

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:43:28 +0200

If you have been playing with Flash Lite, or are a seasoned Flash mobile developer, you need to go and register now for the Flash Lite Developer Challange.

Adobe, along with content aggregation sponsors Thumbplay and GetJar, are giving away cash prizes worth $100k, plus distribution and software, to the best judged applications in several categories.

Visit the Flash Lite Developer Challange website now for details and to register. Good luck!

More Flash Lite posts and information at www.dalerankine.com and www.moket.com.
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/dalerankine

Nokia and Adobe create $10m Open Screen Development Fund

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:31:38 +0200

Some of you may be familiar with the Open Screen Project. It's a collective of technology and content companies, initated by Adobe, that aims to bring consistent user experiences to multiple screens (web, desktop, mobile, set top boxes, consumer electronics) through standards. There are some big names in the group, including Intel, Cisco, MTV, Motorola, Universal, Nokia, Qualcomm, Palm, Toshiba and Sony Ericsson - just to name a few.

When we say "a consistent user experience across multiple screens", Flash is obviously the tool that where going to be working with. It's arguably the most mature cross-platform runtime out there, and certainly the one that provides developers with the most consistent authoring environment and language for addressing these mutliple screens. And in order to energize and engage developers in this endeavour, Nokia and Adobe announced at Mobile World Congress 2009 the creation of The Open Screen Project Fund.

The Open Screen Project Fund is a $10 million market development fund that will provide grants to developers in order to accelerate the creation of apps, content and services that leverage the Adobe Flash Platform and run across mobile, desktop and consumer electronics devices.

Developers around the world are invited to submit their ideas. Proposals will be reviewed by an Open Screen Project Fund steering committee, who are seeking applications that work across devices, and showcase the key features of Flash Lite, Flash Player and AIR. While the apps do not have to run across all three screens (desktop, mobile and CE devices), at a minimum a mobile version is required.

If you have some ideas for applications that will create excellent multiple-screen experiences, then this is a great opportunity to access development funding that can seriously kick start the development. For more information and to apply, visit the Open Screen Project website.

More Flash Lite posts and information at www.dalerankine.com and www.moket.com
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/dalerankine

What the recent Adobe mobile annoucements mean for Rich Internet Developers

Thu, 19 Feb 2009 00:25:46 +0200

There's been a lot announced in the past week about the Flash mobile platform, and with Flash Player 10 and AIR being the next big advancement, I thought I'd write up a post on my Inside RIA blog to discuss those announcements and what they mean if you're working with Flex or AIR at the moment.

Of course if you're already developing for mobile, the announcements basically boil down to these key points:

More devices shipping with the same version of Flash as the desktop enjoys
Greater opportunities across screens with same/similar content (mobile/web/desktop) developed in Flash
Easier packaging and Flash Lite player targeting by using the Distributable Player solution
More opportunities to monetize content

You can read the full RIA post here, which spells out the main announcements in more detail.

More Flash Lite posts and information at www.dalerankine.com and www.moket.com
Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/dalerankine

January Flash Lite eSeminars

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:41:43 +0200

In 2009 I'll be continuing the regular Flash Mobile eSeminars for the Adobe Pacific office (www.adobeeseminars.com.au)and there's two coming up in January:

January 21st: Mobile Workflow in Adobe Creative Suite 4 - This session will look at the various ways that products within the CS4 family touch on the mobile platform and interact with Device Central CS4
January 22nd: Creating Mobile Phone Wallpapers for Designers - This session is for non-Flash designers who might use Illustrator already, and showing how to create mobile specific artwork and test using Device Central

All sessions are at 2pm (AEDST) (Sydney GMT +10) - check your timezones here.

The session rooms I think are still being updated by the Adobe team at the moment from last year, but you will be able to join the session at pacific.adobe.acrobat.com/mobile or register for more upcoming sessions at www.adobeeseminars.com.au.

I'm also running some poll questions each month on my bliog this year, relating to various aspects of Flash Lite and the mobile platform. Why not check them out and give me your thoughts - head over to www.dalerankine.com and have look on the right-hand side. This month's question regarding the kind of Flash Lite training seminars people would like to see will certainly help me to propose the next batch of eSeminar topics and make sure that I'm delivering some content that people will find useful.

Flash Lite 3 and Nokia Services Platform

Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:14:26 +0200

It's an exciting time to be a Flash Lite developer. I've been perservering with Flash Lite for around 4 years now, and most people who know me, know that I've put everything into it. There have been times when the excuses we've had to make for Flash Lite have made it seem a bit like "what am I really doing here!?", but times are certainly changing.

With the recent announcement of the S60 5th Edition OS release, Flash Lite developers have some added bonuses, namely the introduction of Flash Lite integration with the new Nokia Platform Services. For the first time, native ActionScript classes can be used within a Flash Lite 3 application to make direct calls to services on the device, such as Camera, Contacts, Landmarks, Location, Sensors, and many more. You can read about this in the S60 5th Edition: What's New For Developers document

The new Nokia 5800 Xpress Music (or the "Tube") is the first device to have this Platform Services support. I recently announced on my business blog, that my company Moket is porting many of its games to the 5800 and its touchscreen interface for release very shortly, and the next step will be to start making use of Platform Services. We recently demonstrated the "touch" version of our game Trench Rocket at the Nokia Games Summit in Rome.

Recently, Forum Nokia Senior Architect for Emerging Technologies, Robert Burdick, recorded a webinar on the subject of Flash Lite and Platform Services - the recording is available here now. If you are attending the Adobe MAX conference in San Francisco in a couple of weeks (Nov 16-19) then you'll be hearing and seeing a lot more about this great new platform and how to use it to create a new breed of Flash mobile applications that are truley integrated with the device.But stay tuned here for more news and samples of Flash Lite 3 content being developed on top of Nokia Platform Services!

More Flash Lite posts and information at www.dalerankine.com and www.moket.com

Flash Lite eSeminars

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:54:59 +0300

Since July this year I've been delivering regular online seminars for the Adobe Pacific office on topics related to Flash Lite. These presentations are designed for an introductory-level look at various aspects of the Flash Lite ecosystem, for designers, developers and business-minded people.

This week I'm delivering a session looking at the various implementations of Flash Lite that are out there. Nokia devices support Flash Lite in a wide variety of ways which all cater for different types of content, consumer groups and opportunities for developers.

I have one coming up this week, but the remainder of the year looks like this:

Oct 15 - Adobe Flash Lite Implementations
Oct 29 -Device Central CS4
Nov 12 - Adobe Flash Lite and Mobile Gaming
Nov 26 - Adobe Flash Lite and Nokia Series 40
Dec 10 - Packaging Options for Adobe Flash Lite

They're always on a Wednesday at 2pm (AEDT/Sydney). You can register for these events here, plus I also have a schedule (with links) on my personal blog at www.dalerankine.com/blog. The sessions are recorded so if you miss them (or are in a bad timezone for catching them live) you can always watch them later from the Adobe Pacific eSeminars site.

Greetings, its good to be here

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 04:47:11 +0300

G'day from Australia everyone. My name is Dale, and this is my first post here as a Forum Nokia Champion. I'm very pleased to have been invited and accepted into the Champions program, which is obviously growing a little bit at the moment :)

A little about myself ...

I'm the CEO and founder of a company here called Moket. We're a Flash Lite development company and have been working at the coalface of Flash Lite for the past 4 years or so. As well being a Forum Nokia Champion, I'm an Adobe Community Expert (Mobile), Adobe Ambassador, and Adobe Certified Instructor (Flash Lite). When I'm not in the office in Brisbane working on content and applications, I travel the world conducting training courses and speaking at events for companies like Adobe, Nokia and Lynda.com.

I've been a speaker at the webDU conference in Sydney for the past 4 years, and this November will be the third Adobe MAX (North Amercia) conference that I have presented at - all on Flash for mobile devices.

It's a great time to be involved with Flash Lite. For many years now there have been a number of barriers to the fast growth that I believe Flash Lite is starting to experience now, and I for one am glad about the nature of things to come in 2009 and beyond. Back in 2006, Moket was one of the first companies to have Flash Lite content (our game called "Whack Attack") to be bundled with new Nokia Devices (the 6131 S40 device in Singapore to be exact). A lot has happened since that time, including the continued and growth of support for Flash Lite from Nokia. Recently, Moket was featured by Forum Nokia in their Media and Games section.

I'll most likely be posting here about Flash Lite in the market and many of the business opportunities and developments that emerge for Flash developers in the mobile space. We have some great products being released shortly in the game space which will also rate a mention and some analysis of here, as well as a report from our appearance in the Gaming Lounge of the upcoming Nokia Games Summit in Rome (Oct 29-30).

Looking forward to participating further in the community as a Forum Nokia Champion!

Dale.