Benefits of Flash
What are the benefits of using Flash for mobile applications? In the late 1990s, Flash gained its popularity by being a compact format to deliver browser-independent and interactive applications over a low-bandwidth connection. Browser independence was very important several years ago, because Java applets and ActiveX controls were extremely browser-dependent. Some applications worked in Internet Explorer, but not in Netscape (and vice versa). Java developers even faced issues where some applets worked well in Netscape 4.7, but not in Netscape 4.0 because of Java Virtual Machine (JVM) changes. Several years ago, being able to operate over a low-bandwidth connection was very important because broadband-based Internet access was not as widely available as it is today. Images in Flash are vector-based and not rasterized (or bitmapped) as with Java applets and ActiveX controls. So, what does that mean? Take a look at Figures 1 and 2 for an explanation.
Figure 1: Rasterized image at 100 percent and 800 percent (Full Size)
Figure 2: Vector image at 100 percent and 800 percent (Full Size)
So, that's how the "West was won" in the war of interactive browser-based applications. Java applets and ActiveX controls used rasterized images (which are bitmapped) and, therefore, they don't scale very well. If you want to use larger images, then the file size of the application increases, which also increases the amount of time to download it. In Flash, vector-based images are stored as formulas and are rendered on the client. Therefore, as you see in Figure 2, the quality of the image doesn't degrade, no matter how much you scale the image. This allows Flash movies to display extremely crisp images and smooth animations over low-bandwidth connections.
Of course, these same benefits are evident when you use Flash for mobile application development. Now, whether you use Flash for desktop or mobile applications, it is platform-independent, assuming the Flash run-time has been ported to the platform. Table 2 shows a matrix of mobile device that are Flash-capable.
Table 2: Flash-Capable Mobile Devices
| Mobile Device Platform | Version of Flash Supported |
|---|---|
| PocketPC 2002, 2003 | Flash 6 |
| Sony CLIÈ NZ90, NX70V, NX60, TG50 and UX50 (now discontinued) | Flash 5 |
| Nokia 9210, 9290 | Flash 5 |
| NTT DoCoMo i-mode 505i | Flash Lite (Flash 5 objects with Flash 4 ActionScript) |
| Motorola A920 | Flash 5 |
Today, when you use Flash on the PocketPC platform, you get the best of both worlds between thin-client and thick-client applications. By placing your Flash movie on a Web page, your customers can download the latest version of the application instantaneously, and you don't have to worry about how to deploy or update the application (behaving much like a thin client). However, Flash also allows you to persist data on the client-side and operate when a network connection is not present (behaving like a thick-client).
With all this valuable information under our belts, let's create an application!
