Smokescreen Real-Time Converts Flash To HTML5

Smokescreen is a new open-source project:

Smokescreen is a new open-source project aimed at converting Flash to JavaScript/HTML5 to run where it previously couldn’t and better interoperate with webpages where it previously could.

With Smokescreen you can reach new platforms without learning any new tools; your Flash is automatically converted to JavaScript/HTML5.

Based on the iPad demo video and this online demo, I’m thoroughly impressed. It’ll be interesting to see how much ActionScript interactivity it can convert, presumably to JavaScript.

The Adobe CS5 Branding

Adobe CS5 comes with a new lovely coat of paint:

Our intent was to reference dimensionality without making the forms overtly three-dimensional. The pieces merely form a tangram and never overlap each other, using just the light and shadow to suggest form and depth. We wanted the results to be mostly unresolvable abstract shapes that played subtle tricks with the eyes.

The results look damn good:

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Here’s more on the branding: An evolution of the designers toolbox.

Apple takes aim at Adobe… or Android?

Ars Technica weighs in on iPhone 4s section 3.3.1 which bans Adobes upcoming Flash wrapper for iPhone apps:

Apple’s current—and in our opinion, objectionable—position is now close to the complete opposite of its initial stance. From promoting openness and standards, the company is now pushing for an ever more locked-down and restricted platform. It’s bad for competition, it’s bad for developers, and it’s bad for consumers. I hope that there will be enough of a backlash that the company is forced to reconsider, but with the draw of all those millions of iPhone (and now, iPad) customers, I fear that Apple’s developers will, perhaps with some reluctance, just accept the restriction and do whatever Cupertino demands.

It’s a gamble alright. On one hand, it could lock in developers with the iPhone in a very-good-for-Apple way. On the other hand, it could do the exact opposite. The good thing is, we’ll find out over the next year. Personally, I think Apple will pull it off in the 3-year near-term, but not the long-term.

Google Chrome Gets Flash Player Built-In

Google Chrome gets Flash Player bundled with it:

Our hope is that the robust integration between Chrome and Flash Player will serve as a showcase for more consistent, seamless, and efficient Web browsing experiences. We feel that this significant effort by both Google and Adobe will directly improve the speed of innovation and move the Web forward, benefiting the entire community of developers and end-users.

The benefits touted include transparent auto update and a more crash proof experience. Which, if true, makes the above statement even more juicy in the ongoing war both Google and Adobe wage against Apple.

Photoshop Is So Slow …

  • Photoshop is so slow, it should have a calendar instead of a splash screen.
  • Photoshop is so slow, a turtle tried to marry it, but Photoshop was late for the wedding and the turtle ended up marrying Windows 95 instead.
  • Photoshop is so slow, Adobe pondered renaming it “Please wait…”.
  • Photoshop is so slow, that these jokes were made waiting for it to start.
  • Photoshop is so slow, it was once mistaken for Real Player 7.
  • Photoshop is so slow, its builtin clock will shift to daylight saving time, twice, waiting for Gaussian Blur to finish.
  • Photoshop is so slow, painting a lens flare by hand would be quicker.
  • Photoshop is so slow, Iran has started using MS Paint to clone stamp missiles, instead of Photoshop
  • Photoshop is so slow, it makes iTunes look fast.
  • Photoshop is so slow, Adobe keeps adding racing stripes in the box to make it seem faster.
  • Photoshop is so slow, that hardware acceleration refers to using all 640K of RAM.
  • Photoshop is so slow, its interface was recently made way faster using Etch-A-Sketch Technology.

Up In The AIR

Adobe AIR 1.0 just launched. AIR is a machinery you outfit your computer with, in order to install and run web applications, without the browser. I predict it’ll be a massive success, once one or two killer apps emerge. One such killer app could be Google Docs.

Mozilla Unveils Prism: (Another) Web-App Framework

Prism logo

Mozilla has just launched another web-app framework. Prism, kinda like Adobe AIR and Microsoft Silverlight, allows you to take websites with you to the Desktop.

It works this way: first you install Mozilla Prism. Then you start the app and type in the URL of the website you want to take with you to the desktop. Whooptedoo and you have a “standalone application”. Really, it’s like a dedicated Firefox for your application: no toolbars, just the website.

It works. It works well. I like that I can ALT+Tab to Gmail instead of previously having it as an open tab in Firefox.

So far, while you can take websites to the desktop, you can’t take them offline. To my knowledge, there’s no local storage going on, but I’m sure if this is a hit, some offline functionality will arrive, even if it’s just a mashup of Google Gears.

For now, Prism is interesting. It works as advertised and does what it says on the label. Personally, I’ve got desktop versions of Gmail and Google Calendar handy.

Be sure to also read Alex Faaborgs details on the visual direction and brainstorming session on Prism.