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Guys I must say that this is an awesome gift for all of us.

Apollo for Adobe Flex Developers Pocket Guide Mike Chambers, Rob Dixon, Jeff Swartz explains how to build and deploy Flash-based Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) to the desktop using Adobe’s Flex framework. This book describes concisely how Apollo works, and offers numerous examples for those who want to start building RIAs for the desktop right away.

Why put RIAs on the desktop? They’re already supposed to offer the responsiveness of desktop programs. Unfortunately, web browsers were designed to deliver and display HTML-based documents, not applications. The conflict between document- and application-focused functionality creates several problems when deploying applications via the browser.

Adobe Apollo gives you the best of both worlds — the web development model and true desktop functionality. This pocket guide explains how to:

• Set up your development environment
• Create your first application
• Use the File I/O API
• Use HTML within Flex-based Apollo applications
• Use the included Apollo mini-cookbook for common tasks

The book also includes a guide to Apollo packages, classes, and command-line tools. Once you understand the basics of building a Flex-based Apollo application, this pocket guide makes an ideal reference for tackling specific problems.

Download PDF version of  Apollo for Adobe Flex Developers Pocket Guide

It looks that the demand for Adobe Flex 2 skills across the world is exponentially increasing. Based on the facts which shows the rates in UK with a comparison to our Application Development category.

Contracts and Contractors Rate for Adobe Flex 2 Developers
The interesting fact is  Flex 2 developers demand and rates are increased by 60% while Java rates are still unchanged, at least it shows by the data provided here Contracts and Contractors Rate for Java Developers

The same thing is with .Net as well it has increased its rates by just 4%. Contracts and Contractors Rate for .Net Developers

Last week I met with John Koch, Adobe Relation Manager, Asia Pac and Puneet, Sr. Product Manager (Flex)  on a face to face discussion on various aspects of Flex and Adobe technologies. I can say that the way Adobe guys are putting their best to change the techno world, the day is no more longer to come when we will have a true platform for Rich Internet Application development, which will be beneficial for both developer as well as the end user.

Hi guys

I just visited Google’s new app, its simply awesome use of technology with simplicity.

Google Indic Transliteration offers an option for converting Roman characters to the Devan?gar? characters used in Hindi. This lets you type Hindi words phonetically in English script and still have them appear in their correct alphabet. Note that this is not the same as translation — it is the sound of the words that are converted from one alphabet to the other, not their meaning. For example, typing “hamesha” transliterates into Hindi as the given figure

have a look

http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic

Adobe has released Adobe® Integrated Runtime (AIR) update for Flash® CS3 beta 1 software which will allow developers to package and preview .air application files directly within Adobe Flash CS3; leveraging existing Flash development skills to build desktop-enabled distributed applications and experiences with the Adobe AIR™ framework.

Download the Adobe AIR Installer

Macintosh
Download the Adobe AIR update for Flash CS3 Professional for Macintosh (27 MB)
Windows
Download the Adobe AIR update for Flash CS3 Professional for Windows (13 MB)

Adobe has released Adobe Flex Component Kit for Adobe Flash CS3 to create Flex controls, containers, skins, Icons, Interactivities, and other assets in Flash CS3 Professional. Users can then import those assets into their Flex application. According to Flex Documentation Team the documentation that is currently shipping with Flex Builder does not contain the information on how to create Flex containers. However they have provided an article to provide documentation update.

Download the PDF: Importing Flash CS3 Assets into Flex

As a RIA developer we often encountered this situation where we need to choose in between Adobe Flash or Adobe Flex for a project. You have a large project with versatile requirements, lots of interactive elements to it and the target format is Shockwave Flash Format (SWF). Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex both are used in same paradigm with slight difference of usability. The approach to this would be to identify the nature of the project and demanded timeframe. (more…)

Good news for eBay developers.

The eBay Developer Network has announced the availability of an Flex Toolkit for eBay. From their blog, “The Flex Toolkit is an ActionScript library which enables a Flex application to integrate with the eBay platform. It written in ActionScript 3 and is built on top of the eBay Shopping API. The toolkit allows applications to search for items, get item details and get current information about an item’s status.
The Flex Toolkit can be used to develop desktop applications or widgets/gadgets that can be deployed to a website. To download the toolkit or to get more information, visit the Flash Developer Center or the Flex Toolkit Developer Center.”

VIA various news Sources

Microsoft Corp. will soon let users of its Hotmail service store 5 gigabytes of photos and other e-mail messages, more than double the previous limit. In todays scenario where big giants are providing Mail space upto 2 GB’s Hotmail has just doubled the capacity. Of course, only a small number of Hotmail users will ever approach that threshold, a reality the software maker acknowledged in a blog post this week outlining the storage boost and other upgrades to the free, Web-based service. (more…)