O'Grady's PowerPage

Tag: Builder

  • Apple fires Campus 2 primary contractor, Swedish firm Skanska

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    There’s just no pleasing some people.

    Apple has fired Skanska, its Swedish contractor, which has been working on its “spaceship” Campus 2 project.

    Skanska issued a statement saying that it had reached an impasse in negotiations with an unidentified customer over changes in the scope of work, and that it had been terminated from the project. It said the lost work would cost it roughly US$800 million.

    A Cupertino city official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that the joint venture partnership of DPR/Skanska had been replaced on Apple’s high-profile project.

    (more…)

  • Adobe announce Edge 1.0 HTML 5 creation tool, offers preview for free

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    Sometimes you have to transition to the next thing.

    Per Adobe’s blog, Adobe has released a free public preview of Edge, a new motion and interaction design tool that lets users build Flash-style animated Web content using HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.

    Edge is planned for commercial release sometime next year and is designed to work in concert with the company’s existing professional design tools—Dreamweaver CS5.5, Flash Professional CS5.5, and Flash Builder 4.5 (as well as earlier versions)—is targeted to designers seeking an efficient way to use Web standards like HTML to create content featuring motion and transitions.

    The application works natively with HTML and lets users add motion to existing HTML documents without altering the design or CSS-based layout. Users can also import standard Web graphics such as SVG, PNG, JPG, and GIF files and style them using CSS3. It also lets users create visually rich content from scratch with familiar drawing tools that produce HTML elements styled with CSS3.

    The design stage (the workspace in Edge) uses WebKit to enable content design, preview, and manipulation. The timeline offers advanced techniques to boost productivity and precision in creating animations, and lets users define and customize motion applied to HTML elements, Adobe says.

    Content created with Edge is designed to work on browsers such as Safari, Chrome, and Firefox. Edge content can also be viewed on mobile devices running iOS, Android, BlackBerry Playbook, and HP webOS.

    Adobe Edge is immediately available worldwide for Mac and Windows and requires Mac OS X 10.6 or 10.7 or later to install and run the application.

  • Adobe releases Flex 4.5, Flash Builder 4.5, updates tools for building iOS apps

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    Sometimes the Hatfields and the McCoys can put their differences aside and get along where the iOS platform is concerned.

    Per the company’s official blog, Adobe this week released Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5, adding the ability to build and distribute iPhone, iPad and iPod touch applications on Apple’s official App Store.

    The new functionality was announced on the company’s official blog, where Adobe Product Marketing Manager Puneet Goel revealed that App Store software could be created “using one tool chain, programming language and code base — a first for developers.”

    The support for iOS applications comes in addition to the ability to create software for Research in Motion’s BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, also new features of Flash Builder and Flex 4.5. Initially, application support was only available for Android software.

    Flash Platform evangelist Serge Jespers demonstrated the ability of Flash Builder 4.5 and Flex 4.5 to build iOS software in a video accompanying the post. The same stock market tracking application was shown running on an iPad 2 and iPod touch, in addition to an Android-powered HTC smartphone and the BlackBerry PlayBook.

    Jespers also showed off the ability of Adobe’s software to allow developers to quickly created tabbed applications, or add features like automatically rotating between portrait and landscape mode. By checking the appropriate boxes, developers can easily export their mobile software for Apple’s iOS alongside BlackBerry Tablet OS and Google Android.

    A “Platform Settings” option also allows developers to select their target device when creating iOS software. Through this, software can be created specifically for the smaller screen sizes of the iPhone and iPod touch, the larger 9.7-inch display of the iPad, or both.

    “When your application is ready, you don’t actually have to build the application separately for every single platform,” Jespers said. “You can actually do that in one code. It’s pretty amazing.”

    Flash 4.5 and Flex 4.5 are offered as standalone products for developers to purchase, or are available through Creative Suite 5.5 Web Premium and Master Collection.

    Last September, Apple revised its policy on third-party development tools for iOS, and decided it would allow developers to use tools like Adobe’s in order to create software made available to download on the App Store. That was a change from an earlier policy, when Apple’s iOS 4 software development kid license banned tools that would port applications from Flash, Java and Mono.

    Controversy over Apple’s decision prompted CEO Steve Jobs to pen a letter in which he explained that allowing Flash conversion tools would produce “sub-standard apps” for the iPhone and iPad, hindering the progress of the iOS platform. Jobs said at the time that it was known from “painful experience” that allowing developers to become dependent on third-party tools is restrictive.

    “We cannot be at the mercy of a third party deciding if and when they will make our enhancements available to our developers,” Jobs said in April 2010.

    Though Flash remains banned on iOS devices, Adobe has continued to expand its support for the iPhone and iPad, and this march released a Flash-to-HTML5 conversion tool. The “experimental” software called “Wallaby” allows for Adobe Flash Professional files with the .fla extension to be converted to an HTML format that can be opened in the Mobile Safari browser on iOS devices.

    If you’ve had a chance to play with the new versions of Flash Builder or Flex, let us know what you think in the comments.

  • Adobe formally announces Creative Suite 5, will ship in 30 days

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    Software giant Adobe formally announced the release of its Creative Suite 5 product on Monday. The software, per AppleInsider, features integration with online content and digital marketing measurement. For the first time, Creative Suite 5 products include access to Omniture technologies, to capture, store and analyze information generated by Web sites and other sources. The suite also includes a brand new component, Flash Catalyst, joins the Creative Suite, which allows users to design interactive content without writing code and improve the collaborative process between designer and developer.

    Creative Suite 5, which is due to to ship within the next 30 days, also enables the creation of content and applications for Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe AIR 2.

    This release line-up includes the following Creative Suite 5 editions:
    Adobe Creative Suite 5 Master Collection (US$2599)
    Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium (US$1899)
    Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Standard (US$1299)
    Adobe Creative Suite 5 Web Premium (US$1799)
    Adobe Creative Suite 5 Production Premium (US$1699)

    Included with the various suite editions are 15 point products, associated technologies and integration with new Adobe CS Live services: (CS Live online services are complimentary for a limited time.):

    Photoshop CS5
    Illustrator CS5
    InDesign CS5
    Acrobat 9 Pro
    Flash Catalyst CS5
    Flash Professional CS5
    Flash Builder 4
    Dreamweaver CS5
    Fireworks CS5
    Contribute CS5
    Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
    After Effects CS5
    Encore CS5
    Soundbooth CS5
    Adobe OnLocation CS5
    Adobe Bridge CS5
    Adobe Device Central CS5
    Adobe Dynamic Link
    Comparison Tool

    Among the suites major new features are:
    Truer Edge technology in Photoshop CS5 Extended offers improved edge detecting technology and masking results in less time. Photoshop CS5 Extended also lets users remove an image element and immediately replace the missing pixels with Content-Aware Fill.

    InDesign CS5 powers the transition to digital publishing with new interactive documents and enhanced eReader device support.

    Native 64-bit support in Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects enables customers to work more fluidly on high resolution projects.

    New Text Layout Framework in Flash Professional CS5 provides professional-level typography capabilities with functions like kerning, ligatures, tracking, leading, threaded text block and multiple columns.

    New stroke options in Illustrator CS5 allow users to create strokes of variable widths and precisely adjust the width at any point along the stroke.

    The NVIDIA GPU accelerated Adobe Mercury Playback Engine allows Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 users to open projects faster, refine effects-rich HD sequences in real time and play back complex projects without rendering.

    The new Roto Brush tool in After Effects helps users save time by isolating moving foreground elements in a fraction of the normal time.

    Dreamweaver CS5 now supports popular content management systems Drupal, Joomla! and WordPress, allowing designers to get accurate views of dynamic Web content from within Dreamweaver.

    Adobe CS Live:
    Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium also integrates with new Adobe CS Live, a set of five online services that accelerate key aspects of the creative workflow and enable designers to focus on creating their best work. CS Live online services are complimentary for a limited time and currently include:

    Adobe BrowserLab, a tool for testing Web site content across different browsers and operating systems.

    Adobe CS Review, which enables online design reviews directly from within Creative Suite 5 applications.

    Access to Acrobat.com services, such as Adobe ConnectNow Web conferencing, to enhance discussion and information exchange with colleagues and clients around the globe.

    Adobe Story, a collaborative script writing tool that improves production and post-production workflows in CS5 Production Premium.

    SiteCatalyst NetAverages from Omniture, which provides Web usage data that helps reduce the guesswork early in the creative process when designing for Web and mobile.

    Pricing and Availability:
    Adobe Creative Suite 5 and its associated point products are scheduled to ship within 30 days, with availability through Adobe Authorized Resellers, the Adobe Store and Adobe Direct Sales. At 11:00 am ET (8:00 am PT) today, Adobe will offer a live streaming preview of CS5 through its website.