Adobe in his secret plan of not letting Me catch up with the latests runtimes has just released new beta versions of Adobe Flash Player 11 and Adobe AIR 3 and are available at Adobe Labs.

Some of the new features are:

Adobe® Flash® Player 11 desktop beta drives innovation for rich, engaging digital experiences with new features for cross-platform browser-based viewing of expressive rich internet applications, content, and videos across devices. Some of the features from the Flash Player Incubator, such as Stage 3D and 64-bit support, have been moved into this beta release.

Key benefits of the Flash Player 11 desktop beta include:

Stage3D APIs — Create highly interactive visuals to improve collaboration on 3-dimensional models.
64-bit support — Support for 64-bit operating systems and browsers on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows.
G.711 audio compression for telephony — Integrate voice/telephony into business apps using G.711 codec.
H.264/AVC SW Encoding — Encode higher quality video locally using H.264 video.
Socket Progress Events — Build advanced file sharing apps like FTP clients that send large amounts of data.
HD surround sound — Deliver full HD videos with 7.1 channel surround sound directly to AIR powered TVs.

More info at Adobe Labs

Adobe® AIR® 3 introduces enhanced features that provide developers a consistent and flexible development environment for the delivery of out-of-browser applications across devices and platforms.

AIR 3 delivers innovation for rich engaging applications with unparalleled performance improvements that deliver advanced graphics rendering, high-definition video, and consistent reach across operating systems and devices. AIR 3 is packed with features that will benefit all developers but has a special focus for those interested in developing console quality games, delivering high quality video, or scalable enterprise applications.

Note: The AIR 3 desktop runtime beta is provided to ensure current AIR 2.7 and AIR apps targeting older version of AIR are compatible if You want to test the new SDK You must enrole in the private prerelease program.
More info at Adobe Labs

Seems like a lot of good stuff to play with.

Happy Coding.
Dave

Today Adobe has announced a very  significative update to the Creative Suite family of products, The Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 which is also the first time Adobe does a mid-cycle release, according to Adobe this releases will help developers and designers get up to speed on technology changes the milestone releases (such as CS3, CS4, CS5) are moved to a two-year cycle , I was part of the private prerelease beta for Flash Builder 4.5 and Flash Catalyst 5.5 and let me say it comes with a lot of new and cool features. This release has a lot of mobile targeted features “Android, iOS, Blackberry” which will facilitate You targeting various devices using the same codebase there’s also great new features in Flash CS5.5 and all the HTML5 cool stuff in Dreamweaver CS5.5 including the jQuery mobile framework integration for browser-based content. So here is a list of some of the new features and be sure to check out the introduction post and  Adobe, Flash Platform, CS5 Twitter timelines.

Flash Builder 4.5

• Android, BlackBerry and iOS development
• Lots of new coding enhancement and productivity features
• Improved workflow between Flash Builder and Flash Catalyst
• Uses Eclipse version 3.6.1 “Helios”
• Performance improvements
• Supports code and design view of the same document
• Introduces a new version of Flash Builder 4.5 aimed for PHP developers with Zend integration

Flash Catalyst 5.5

• Resizable applications and components
• Timeline and animation enhancements
• Custom skinnable components
• Improved interaction choices
• Common library panel

Flash Professional 5.5

• Workflow improvements for mobile development
• Content scaling on stage resizing
• Performance optimization with rasterization for symbols
• Enhanced layer controls
• Code snippet handling improvements and enhancements
• Inverse kinematics pinning support
• File auto-save and recovery
• Incremental compilation with asset caching
• Seamless mobile testing

Dreamweaver 5.5

• Multiscreen preview panel
• CSS3 and HTML5 support
• JQuery Mobile integration
• Native Android and iOS apps development and packaging
• Adobe BrowserLab integration
• FTPS, FTPeS support

One of the new features of the Adobe Flash Player 10.2 is the Native bitmap-based cursors this will let You get rid of the Mouse.hide(), onMouseMove() handler  or starDrag() to display a custom cursor in your Flash projects. You can now directly assign your own custom cursors. So here’s a sample extending Thibault Imbert’s

1.- First we embed the assets( the images that we will be using as our custom cursors) and  an int var that we will be using to switch our cursors.

[Embed (source="/assets/126.gif" )]
public static const NativeCursor:Class;
[Embed (source="/assets/cat1.png" )]
public static const CursorFrame1:Class;
[Embed (source="/assets/cat2.png" )]
public static const CursorFrame2:Class;
[Embed (source="/assets/cat3.png" )]
public static const CursorFrame3:Class;
[Embed (source="/assets/cat4.png" )]
public static const CursorFrame4:Class;
[Embed (source="/assets/cat5.png" )]
public static const CursorFrame5:Class
protected var _state : int = 0;

2.- Then on the class constructor we add the click mouse event listener so on each user click we toggle the cursor.

public function NativeCursorTest() {
  stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, _onClick);
  toggle();
}

3.- The methods that create our cursors this is exactly the same code that Thibault’s sample just divided in two methods so You can see the animated and static cursor working.

private function createNativeCursor() : void {
   // we create a MouseCursorData object
   var cursorData:MouseCursorData = new MouseCursorData();
   // we specify the hotspot
   cursorData.hotSpot = new Point(15,15);
   // we pass the cursor bitmap to a BitmapData Vector
   var bitmapDatas:Vector.<BitmapData> = new Vector.<BitmapData>(1, true);
   // we create the bitmap cursor (bitmaps should not be bigger than 32x32 pixels, this is an OS limitation)
   var bitmap:Bitmap = new NativeCursor();
   // we pass it to the bitmapDatas vector
   bitmapDatas[0] = bitmap.bitmapData;
   // we assign the bitmap to the MouseCursor object
   cursorData.data = bitmapDatas;
   // we register the MouseCursorData to the Mouse with an alias
   Mouse.registerCursor("myCursor", cursorData);
   // whenever we neeed to show it, we pass the alias to the existing cursor property
   Mouse.cursor = "myCursor";
}

private function createAnimatedCursor() : void	{
   // we create a MouseCursorData object
   var cursorData:MouseCursorData = new MouseCursorData();
   // we specify the hotspot
   cursorData.hotSpot = new Point(15,15);
   // we pass the cursors bitmap to a BitmapData Vector
   var bitmapDatas:Vector.<BitmapData> = new Vector.<BitmapData>(5, true);
   // we create the bitmap cursor frames (bitmaps should not be bigger than 32x32 pixels, this is an OS limitation)
   var frame1Bitmap:Bitmap = new CursorFrame1();
   var frame2Bitmap:Bitmap = new CursorFrame2();
   var frame3Bitmap:Bitmap = new CursorFrame3();
   var frame4Bitmap:Bitmap = new CursorFrame4();
   var frame5Bitmap:Bitmap = new CursorFrame5();
  // we pass it to the bitmapDatas vector
   bitmapDatas[0] = frame1Bitmap.bitmapData;
   bitmapDatas[1] = frame2Bitmap.bitmapData;
   bitmapDatas[2] = frame3Bitmap.bitmapData;
   bitmapDatas[3] = frame4Bitmap.bitmapData;
   bitmapDatas[4] = frame5Bitmap.bitmapData;
   // we assign the bitmap to the MouseCursor object
   cursorData.data = bitmapDatas;
   // we register the MouseCursorData to the Mouse
   Mouse.registerCursor("myAnimatedCursor", cursorData);
   // we just pass a frame rate
   cursorData.frameRate = 5;
   // whenever we neeed to show it, we pass the alias to the existing cursor property
   Mouse.cursor = "myAnimatedCursor";
}

4.- And finally our Mouse event listener and the toggle method that makes all that cursor magic switch happens.

private function _onClick(event : MouseEvent) : void {
	// we call the toggle function to switch between our mouse cursors
	toggle();
}

private function toggle() : void {
	switch (_state) {
	   case 0:
		// we set the static cursor
		createNativeCursor();
		_state = 1;
		break;
	   case 1:
		// we set the animated cursor
		createAnimatedCursor();
		trace(_state);
		_state = 0;
		break;
		default:
	}
}

Hope this helps You and in case you haven’t already go to adobe labs and download the Flash Player 10.2 beta.

Almost forgot here’s the example: ( You’ll need Flash Player 10.2 in your browser to see it).

Flash Player 10.2 Beta – StageVideo CPU Performance Test from Dave Gamez on Vimeo.

This is a example of the StageVideo API performance on Windows 7 (The microphone got messy on me so there’s no audio but anyway You get to see on the monitor how the new Flash Player 10.2 performs).

If You wan’t more info on how to start making some test on Your own reading the Getting Started with stage video article on the ADC by Thibault Imbert will be a good point to start.

Adobe Flash Player 10.2 Beta – Stage Video hardware acceleration. from Dave Gamez on Vimeo.

A short screencap testing the Stage Video hardware acceleration and full screen mode with multiple monitors capabilities in Adobes´s Flash Player 10.2 using Google Chrome Task Manager (CPU Monitor) on Windows 7

The  Adobe Flash Player 10.2 beta has been released and is publicly available at Adobe Labs with exiting new features, being one of the most expected since the official Adobe presentation at Adobe Max 2010  the  Stage Video hardware acceleration that will include an extensive 3D API that will support direct paths to OpenGL and DirectX-based 3D rendering on the GPU.I was able to see the Adobe Max Racer Demo live at The Latin Flash Tour 2010 and let me say is wonderful.

Below is a sneak peak of Stage Video hardware acceleration from Adobe MAX 2010. Learn more about Stage Video.

Key new capabilities in the Flash Player 10.2 beta include:

• Stage Video hardware acceleration — A new method for video playback in Flash Player will allow developers to leverage complete hardware acceleration of the video rendering pipeline, enabling best-in-class playback performance. Stage Video can dramatically decrease processor usage and enables higher frame rates, reduced memory usage, and greater pixel fidelity and quality.
• Internet Explorer 9 hardware accelerated rendering support — Flash Player takes advantage of hardware accelerated graphics in Internet Explorer 9, utilizing hardware rendering surfaces to improve graphics performance and enable seamless composition.
• Native custom mouse cursors — Developers can define custom native mouse cursors, enabling user experience enhancements and improving performance.
• Support for full screen mode with multiple monitors — Full screen content will remain in full-screen on secondary monitors, allowing users to watch full-screen content while working on another display. ( This is something I’ve been really looking forward to).

I’m really looking forward to test all the new capabilities and sharing the results. Here’s the download link  so You can test it right away: Flash Player 10.2 beta

The next week on the 29 and 30 of October 2010, The Latin Flash Tour returns to México City for the second time, the event is the second edition of an initiative of Adobe’s Flash Platform Evangelist Lee Brimelow to visit Latin American countries to show the latest innovations, applications and functionalities of the Flash Platform, this year the tour starts in México and ends in Rio de Janeiro passing by Bogotá, Lima, Santiago y Buenos Aires.

The event will be held at the Universidad Iberoamericana in México City and will count with the talks of Grant Garrett (Influxis), Jerry Chabolla (Influxis), Enrique Duvos (Adobe) y Lee Brimelow (Adobe). Besides that the two days will be filled with talks and workshops that You simply can’t miss.

I will be giving a talk on Powerflasher FDT 4 new features and how those can help You in speeding Your workflow called FDT to the extreme.

The site of the event is http://www.latinflashtour.com and the site of the México city event is: http://www.latinflashtour.com.mx where You can find the agenda and registration.

Last year event was really great and this year will be awesome, there are a lot of talks and workshops on diverse themes from Illustration with Flash and The Flash Platform for Designers Plataform to AS3 in the iPhone for Flash Designers, Multitouch Experience and a ton of themes more, if You are into Flash you really need to go, is a great place to learn and share with México’s Flash Platform community… so what are You waiting for go there register and be part of it.

See You there.

So for the third part of this series and I guess the last now that Adobe released the CS5 and You can explore the new Flash CS5 by Your own, in the above video I’m showing you the ActionScript 3.0 code snippets panel  this cool little panel will be loved by designers and new coders alike. Lee Brimelow had  already made one snippets panel and this one is based on that, to use it you simply select your movie clip and drag one snippet from this panel, your timeline will automatically add an ActionScript layer with the code needed. You can also create your own snippets so if you’re new to coding or a designer this panel will help you out a lot.

Download the Flash CS5 trial here and start playing.

Happy Coding !!!

So  the wait it’s over  Adobe Creative Suite 5 it’s out and You can order it here or check out the trial here

Some of the new features are:
Interactive design without writing code
Design sophisticated interactive content and create functional interfaces in new Adobe Flash® Catalyst™ CS5 without writing code. Transform your unique vision into compelling online experiences and deliver perfect project files to developers.

Extraordinary image editing
Use the Mixer Brush and Bristle Tips in Adobe Photoshop® CS5 Extended to explore lifelike, naturally textured painting. Add dimension to your imagery with 3D extrusions using Adobe Repoussé technology, and make precise image selections more quickly and easily with new Truer Edge selection technology.

Innovative vector drawing and painting
Quickly and accurately represent depth and distance using new perspective tools in Adobe Illustrator® CS5. Precisely control stroke width, arrowheads, and dashes. And use the new Bristle Brush to draw with the expressive quality of watercolors, oils, and pastels, but with the scalability of vectors.

Comprehensive reach of the Flash Platform
Realize your vision online with the capabilities of the Adobe Flash Platform. Use Flash Catalyst CS5 to design interactive content without writing code, Adobe Flash Professional CS5 to create free-form, expressive content, and Adobe Flash Builder™ 4 to develop rich Internet applications.

Interactive documents and presentations
Create memorable documents and presentations complete with interactivity, motion, sound, and video in Adobe InDesign® CS5. Enhance page layouts with rich media using new motion presets for easy animation creation. Take advantage of support for FLV and MP3 audio file import to engage and excite your audiences.

Flash CS5 Features 02 Custom class code hinting and completion. from David Gamez on Vimeo.

Ok  so for the second part of this series I’m showing You a little video of  something you’ll love if you use to code in FlashIDE  ActionScript editor.

The improved editor now let’s  you work with custom code hinting and completition and it works pretty fast it’s as easy as setting your classpaths and the editor will recognize all of your libraries and custom classes.

To be totally honest, I would not leave the ActionScript editor I’m using now for the one that comes with the Flash IDE but it definitely eases up the workflow if you’re using it.

See You around.