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Build your own tablet for $400 USD with liquidware kit (BeagleBoard)
Posted in Flash Mobile on 09.23.10 17:23

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Wired has a post about constructing a $400-500 DIY tablet from a liquidware.com kit. The kit is based around BeagleBoard.

It utilizes the Beagle Touch component which, from the looks of it is resistive, not capacitive touchscreen. This puts a bit of damper on things …

The ideal of a custom tablet that can basically do anything you want it to, however, is a powerful one.


Lifehacker chimes in on selling (used) gadgets online
Posted in Flash Mobile on 09.23.10 14:54

I’ve been involved with mobile & devices for about 4 years.

Sometimes OEMS give me protos, other times not.

Although it’s annoying when other developers whine about not getting free devices to work with, I can relate, and sympathize the “wallet pain”.

Still, if you “want to play” … you’ve got to be willing to pay (sometimes).

Also, it’s also a bit of a misconception, that working with a simulator or emulator in an SDK will “get the job done”. Think again. It gets you 80% of the way (if you’re lucky).

Trouble is, devices are not cheap, so looking for used devices to work with, and recycling old models becomes something you’ll quickly be accustomed to as a mobile and device developer.

Recently, lifehacker had a post on How to Sell Your Gadgets Online and Make the Most Back in the Process.

A lot of the tips and tricks rung true, so I recommend reading it.

Lifehacker is awesome.


New England Silverlight Guild meeting on October 18, 2010
Posted in Flash Mobile on 09.22.10 17:04

Noticed that there will be a New England Silverlight Guild meeting on October 18, 2010.

New England Silverlight Guild October 18, 2010 Kick-off Meeting (NERD Center, Cambridge MA)
Monday, October 18, 2010 from 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM (ET)
Cambridge, MA

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There’s going to be some Windows Phone 7 there.


HTML5 Mobile Online Video Series from O’reilly
Posted in O'reilly on 09.22.10 15:34

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O’reilly is putting on a (free) HTML5 Mobile Online Video Series.

Here is more detail:

What you’ll learn:

  • Discover what’s new in HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript for mobile development
  • Build your own Twitter App with these technologies
  • Create apps that detect the orientation of mobile devices
  • Use geolocation and maps in a location-based app
  • Enable mobile users to use your app offline
  • Use HTML5 web forms to create an address book app
  • Create drawings and animation with JavaScript and HTML5′s canvas element
  • Use HTML5′s audio and video elements to build a movie trailer app

About this online course:
Ready to create mobile web applications with HTML5? In this 10-week online course, you’ll learn how to build mobile apps using several HTML5 features—including the new semantic elements, geolocation, audio and video tags, local storage capacity, web forms, and the canvas 2D drawing surface. During the course, you’ll combine HTML5 elements with JavaScript and CSS3 to create apps for Twitter, movie trailers, and an address book.

Discover how to style your apps to respond to a device’s vertical and horizontal orientation, take advantage of global positioning, draw your own controls and create basic animations, make your app available to users offline, and more—in just ten weeks.

Here’s the best part: the sessions are free! If you can’t attend the live presentations—or if you do attend and want to revisit them later—the sessions will also be available on video.

Don’t miss this incredible opportunity—sign up today!

Who should attend?

  • Web developers interested in mobile development
  • Mobile web developers ready to update their skills with HTML5
  • Business developers and project managers looking to understand mobile technologies
  • Beginning to intermediate programmers who want to learn new web skills

What you’ll need:

  • PHP5
  • Android SDK (optional)
  • Experience with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript
  • A laptop with Mac OS X (10.6)
  • Safari 4 browser or better
  • iPhone and iPad simulator

Online Sessions Description
Please note: Because this online course takes place before and after the change from daylight time to standard time, the first five sessions will start at 3 p.m. PDT, and the final five sessions will start at 3 p.m. PST.

Session 1: Meet HTML5—October 5, 2010, 3 p.m. (PDT)
Get up to speed on HTML5′s important new features and learn about the mobile environments you’ll be working with. This valuable overview will help you get everything installed so that you’re set up for the rest of the course.

Session 2: Create a Twitter App—October 12, 2010, 3 p.m. (PDT)
Learn how to use HTML5′s new semantic elements to lay out a Twitter web app you’ll be working with over the next few weeks. Understand the CSS3 pseudo class “nth-child” and learn how to cache your static HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and image files for offline use.

Session 3: Make Ajax Calls—October 19, 2010, 3 p.m. (PDT)
Add Ajax calls to your Twitter app that enables you to pull down recent tweets. You’ll also learn about cross-site scripting security and what you need to do about it, as well as CSS3 Web Fonts and Transitions.

Session 4: Detect Orientation and Use CSS3 Media Queries—October 26, 2010, 3 p.m. (PDT)
Discover how JavaScript orientation detection knows when users rotate their mobile devices, and learn how to style your app to respond to different orientations, using CSS3 media queries. You’ll also learn to detect when a CSS3 transition has ended.

Session 5: Add Geolocation—November 2, 2010, 3 p.m. (PDT)
Understand how to use geolocation in this session. You’ll learn how to get a user’s current global position, track changes in their location, and use that information to load local tweets on a map.

Session 6: Use HTML5 Databases for Offline Storage—November 9, 2010, 3 p.m. (PST)
Learn the basics of databases and how to use them. Then, connect your app to the Web SQL Database so users can store tweets for offline viewing.

Session 7: Create an Address Book App with Forms—November 16, 2010, 3 p.m. (PST)
HTML5 makes it easier for you to create web forms. In this session, you’ll learn how to build an address book and display the appropriate on-screen keyboard to fit the type of data users will input.

Session 8: Build a Movie Trailer app with Audio and Video—November 23, 2010, 3 p.m. (PST)
With the help of HTML5′s new audio and video tags, you’ll learn how to create an app that lets users view movie trailers. You’ll also explore CSS3 transforms for adding rotation to video elements.

Session 9: Draw Using JavaScript and Canvas—November 30, 2010, 3 p.m. (PST)
Set up the new canvas element properly and learn how to draw simple and complex shapes. You’ll draw shapes, by defining paths and using solid, gradient, and pattern fills.

Session 10: Animate Your Drawings with Canvas—December 7, 2010, 3 p.m. (PST)
Learn about the canvas composition model, and how to use the canvas element to create basic animations. You’ll draw images into the canvas and discover how to use 2D transforms to translate, scale and rotate them.


Over the AIR conference in Norway
Posted in Flash Mobile on 09.22.10 08:46

Apparently, there was a mobile conference in Norway called Over the Air. Seems like there was a lot of Nokia sessions there. Interesting.

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About
Scott Janousek is a Mobile and Device Technologist located in the vicinity of Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States.

Scott creates solutions for many mobile platforms; including Android, iOS, as well as other device form factors (e.g. tablets, smart TVs, photoframes, and other consumer electronic devices).

He operates Hooken Mobile in Boston, which offers Mobile and Device development services across many different form factors.

Hooken Mobile

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