Mobile and Devices Developer Center

Announcing the Flash Lite 2 Update for Flash Professional 8 Preview Release

You've probably heard us talking a lot about Flash Lite 2 for some time. Now we're making the bits available to you: Flash Lite Player 2, Flash Lite 2 Update for Flash Professional 8, and developer resources.

We can't wait to see the applications, games, and user experiences that will come out of the developer community now that you have access to all the new features in Flash Lite Player 2.

In addition, developers who want to get started early building Flash Lite 2 content can download the mobile developer update to Flash Professional 8 in Labs.

Here's an introduction to some of the most important additions for developers.

Updated Player, Updated Emulator

If you haven't already heard about the new features in Flash Lite 2, you'll see that it's quite a jump from version 1.1:

• Flash Player 7 code base: The player is now based on the Flash Player 7 code base, letting you take advantage of the many benefits of ActionScript 2.0.

  

  Figure 1. Game performance and coding improved with ActionScript 2.0

• XML and media support: You can now load and parse XML and load JPEGs and MP3s at runtime.

  

  Figure 2. Easy-to-create dynamic interfaces based on XML

• Flash Lite shared objects: Using Flash Lite shared objects, developers can now load and store local data on a device.
• Device video support: Flash Lite 2 now supports video playback using the codec on the device. The player can play back any video format supported by the device.
• New mobile emulators: We're making Flash Lite 2 development much easier and foolproof through new mobile emulators in Flash Professional 8, which support the features in the new version of the player. The new mobile emulator for Flash Professional 8 supports both Flash Lite Player 1.x and 2 playback, including device video and other features. There's also an updated device profile for testing Flash Lite 2 content in the mobile emulator.

Where to Get It

Beginning January 3, the Flash Lite player and updated authoring tool will be available on the Adobe website. The stand-alone development player for supported Symbian Series 60 devices is available in the Online Store. Like Flash Lite Player 1.1, Flash Lite Player 2 is locked to the IMEI of the device.

The authoring update for Flash Professional 8 and the Flash Lite 2 documentation will be available in Labs. Sign up for a free account and download the updates and documentation from the site.

What You'll Get

In addition to the update files and player installer, you will be able to get even more mobile developer resources in Labs. You'll find development resources for Flash Lite 2.0 including API references, best practices and tips, a development wiki, and sample applications.

For more information and articles about Flash Lite, see the Flash Lite product page and the Flash Lite Developer Center.

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