"Google Gears Grind Out Web Apps"

Google wrapped up its Developer Day in Sydney, Australia, with a handful of announcements. One of them will help make its many applications available to people who are temporarily without a web connection, like business travelers.

"Unfortunately, today’s web browsers lack some fundamental building blocks necessary to make offline web applications a reality," Google’s Aaron Boodman and Erik Arvidsson said in their post on the new Google Gears blog.

"In other words, we found we needed to add a few new gears to the web machinery before we could get our apps to run offline," they said of Google Gears. "It adds just enough to AJAX to make current web applications work offline."

The browser extension will work with any Gears-enabled application. Though Google is working with Adobe, as well as browser makers Mozilla and Opera, Gears sounds like a project that will compete with Adobe Apollo.

Three core modules for Gears have been released: LocalServer, Database, and WorkerPool. "Gears today covers what we think is the minimal set of primitives required for offline apps," said Boodman and Arvidsson.

One of the first projects for Google Gears is a new version of the Google Reader for RSS feeds. The comapny’s Chris Wetherell talked about that on the Google Reader blog:

Once you’ve installed Google Gears, you can download your latest 2,000 items so they’re available even when you don’t have an internet connection. To get started, simply click the “Offline” link in the top right of Google Reader.

We gave the offline reader option a try on one of our machines, and noticed one immediate improvement the offline experience has over the online one. It’s a heck of a lot faster in performance working with those 2,000 items locally, rather than waiting for Reader to churn through the next 60 items in the Boing Boing feed.

Google Gears only grabbed the text from the feeds, though. No images or videos offline. That certainly helps the download speed in getting feeds into the Gears database, but in the case of feeds like Boing Boing’s it really kills the more interesting parts of many of their posts.

Adobe Flex Enters Open Source

Through their shift of the Flex SDK to an open source model, Adobe has presented a compelling challenge to developers who may have considered trying Microsoft’s Silverlight platform.

Microsoft’s entry into cross-browser, rich Internet application creation just hit a big speed bump. Open source developers who inherently mistrust Microsoft on some level are likely to check out Adobe Flex for their cross-browser app construction needs.

This news also helps boost support for Adobe’s Apollo product. Apollo allows developers to take an application created for online use, and repurpose it as a desktop application running on top of the Apollo framework.

Adobe announced the release schedule for open sourcing Flex on their wiki:

The source code for the Flex framework is already available within the free distribution of the current Flex 2 SDK. By this summer, Adobe plans to put in place most of the infrastructure (public bug database and public daily builds) required to run the Flex SDK as an open source project. We expect to complete the transition to a fully open source project (source code for the compiler, infrastructure for community contributions, etc.) by the end of 2007.

Companies that wish to obtain commercial licenses for the Flex SDK will be able to do so. That applies to other Adobe products that use the Flex SDK, like Flash Player and ColdFusion.

Robert Scoble has a couple of videos taken with the Adobe Flex team. They discuss the news about open sourcing Flex, and review Flex’s architecture and components as related to the announcement.

The challenge web application developers face comes when their desired audience takes their computer away from the Internet. With no connection there is no productivity, and that has probably hampered efforts to really drive a broader userbase into web-based applications.

Adobe’s Luis Polanco, senior product manager for Apollo, talked to WebProNews about the cross-operating system runtime ahead of a fully booked ‘Apollo Camp’ on Friday that took place in San Francisco.

Apollo can be used to make an online application ready for offline use. The business traveling audience comes to mind, as viable airline Internet options have yet to take hold in the United States. It’s difficult to wean people away from Microsoft Office if they can’t use a web-based choice when off the Net.

The runtime enables developers working in Adobe’s Flash or Flex, or in the HTML and JavaScript world, to use those tools and create their Rich Internet Applications (as Adobe likes to call them) for desktop deployment.

Support for PDF will be coming later this year; Polanco said deeper Ajax support likewise would be delivered later in 2007. With this launch, Polanco said Adobe wants to get feedback as developers evaluate the runtime, which is freely available as a download.

EBay has been working with Apollo ahead of the formal public announcement. The online marketplace has been building an application to extend notifications to the desktop. When offline, eBay users will be able to create listing with the app, and have them automatically upload to eBay on reconnection.

Windows and Macintosh receive support at the OS level out of the gate. Adobe has plans to add Linux support in a future version; Linux fans who have waited a long time for an updated Flash Player from Adobe for their preferred OS may be taking a ‘wait and see’ view here.

Polanco said a benefit of Apollo would be the ‘Virtual Ubiquity’ of Apollo applications. Through the leveraging of local file system access, "experiences are the same as online" with web-based applications, he noted.

Such access made us curious about security implications for Apollo applications. Polanco stressed that mechanisms in those apps, coupled with sound developer practices, will mitigate those concerns.

Response from blogs observing the launch has been generally positive. Michael Arrington waxed enthusiastically about Apollo at TechCrunch, while Jay Fortner wrote at ReadWriteWeb that Adobe is "really engaging developers and bloggers in the roll-out process."

This article on ZDNet from 2003 talks about Macromedia’s plans to push Flash Video as a technology and how streaming video has just been added to the Flash Player. Remember, Flash Communication Server 1.0 was released in 2002 pretty much alongside Flash MX – which incidentally also introduced the ability to embed video content directly into Flash. Embedding never took off and rightly so as it was riddled with problems such as audio sync issues, tricky to update and massive SWF files.

It’s interesting how in that article a guy called Richard Doherty points out how Flash as a media format is still running well behind Windows Media, RealPlayer and Apple’s QuickTime. “They’re still paying catch-up way behind Real,” he said.

Way behind Real… it’s 2006 and here I sit wondering if there’s anybody not in front of Real right now.

You would have thought that a few years later in 2005 Flash Video would have been more widely accepted. Another ZDNet article was published previous to the Flash 8 release. In mid 2005, Flash Video ” could make it a significant threat to Microsoft’s Windows Media technology, RealNetworks’ Real format and Apple’s QuickTime”. Hear hear. Not only that but “it could cause Real, Apple and Microsoft some concern since it will evolve into a competitive platform for streaming video.” Word.

It comes as no real (no pun intended) surprise then that Real’s senior VP of media for Real Networks was quoted in that article with the prase “Flash doesn’t have digital rights management, and studios care about DRM. We are focused on intellectual property that has value, where DRM matters. Flash is fine for ads, but none of the studios are going to do this.”

I can’t help but smile at this… This is such a naive view today and it already was in 2005. ‘Intellectual property that has value’… does that mean if it’s not got DRM it has no value? Hmm not quite right is it, at least Google was more than happy to pay short of a couple of billion dollars for a Flash Video portal named YouTube.

Don;t get me started in DRM, but if Real wants to live in the past then all the better for Flash. Wooosh, that was Flash Video in the fast lane, wizzing past Real which seems to have had a breakdown back at the last junction.

Microsoft of course had to have their say too and boldly stated that “Flash is receiving some good uptake on the Internet today, it has limited applications beyond short form, streamed content”. Aight, whatever. If reaching every user in every corner of the net is limited then that’s fine by me. How Microsoft’s own approach isn’t limited is beyond me as every Mac user will confirm.

So in 2005, Flash Video was starting to eat away at the market…

Now here we are in 2006 – almost 2007 – and times truly have changed. Flash Video is just about everywhere (Tom Green has written a good article on this topic – The Rise of Flash Video) and it has certainly claimed many online landmarks for itself. Granted, there’s still some work to be done when it comes to offline playback and downloadable formats but I am sure Adobe will keep these shortcomings in mind for future releases of Flash, Flex and the upcoming Apollo runtime.

Overall I think it’s fair to say that 2006 was the year of online video, and Flash Video in particular. What’s around the corner? If Adobe have their way then Apollo will be on everyone’s desktop come 2008 and I personally predict a rise in Flash’s Live Video capabilities in 2007. Judging by som eof the project requests that are coming in I will definitely concentrate some of my efforts in this area.

On this note let me wish you all a very happy christmas and a successful 2007.

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Stefan is a certified Flash Developer who has been involved with Flash Media
Server since its very early days. From his home office in the UK he has
handled a variety of projects, specializing in Flash Video and Rich Internet
Applications for clients that include CNET, USA Network and Unilever. Stefan
is the author of a series of Adobe Developer Center articles, has spoken at
several industry events and contributes a regular column on Flash Video to
Streaming Media Magazine. His site www.flashcomguru.com is one of the
largest online resources on Flash Video.

Ryan wrote about How eBay is developing with Adobe’s Apollo. Ryan talks about San Dimas, an experimental Apollo powered project from the eBay Developers and EffectiveUI.

San Dimas uses Apollo and it can take advantage of the desktop and provide awesome capabilities (unlike a typical Flash Application) like local storage and desktop notifications very easily. Alan Lewis, the technical evangelist of San Dimas, mentioned that one of the big advantages of the desktop model is improved caching. For instance there is a web service call to go out and grab the entire tree structure of eBay’s categories. In XML format, this is about a 20 meg download. With Apollo, it can be called this once and cache it on the local machine so that the application never has to make the calls to get subcategories. This means fewer calls to the server and better performance.

Michael Arrington of TechCrunch on his article titled Preparing For Apollo wrote about how Apollo will allow developers to take RIAs, whether they be built on Flash, HTML, JavaScript and/or Ajax, and turn them into desktop applications. Listen to his interview (37 mins) with Kevin Lynch, Adobe’s senior vice president and chief software architect.

Mike Chambers have a 10 minute Video Interview/Discussion with Christian Cantrell of the Apollo team. You can download the high resolution version of the video (~100MB).

I just downloaded the High Resolution Video and its awesome. Christian showed how he integrated Google Maps, which is online, with the Address and Contacts on his Desktop, which is offline (this is freaking awesome). Look at how he drags from the Flex Content to the HTML content. Watch carefully and you will realize that he is using Flex Builder on his Mac and a Mighty Mouse too. And yes, we want Multiple Native Windows and synchronous ActionScript – Javascript integration. Here are some screenshots if you can’t wait for your video to download. Get your Apollo Wallpapers.

What is Apollo?

Apollo is the code name for a cross-operating system runtime being developed by Adobe that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax) to build and deploy Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) to the desktop.

What have you learnt from all these talks?

Apollo will support File API, based on Flash Player 9, Windowing API, HTML within Flash based content, Apollo specific Flex components, Drag & Drop.

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Brajeshwar is an ace digerati and an ardent believer of
KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid), he envisions pushing the technical
envelope time and again for the betterment of commercial and
practical applications.

http://www.brajeshwar.com/

Since this summer, and somewhat quietly, Adobe has been promoting what might be the first true “child” of this merger, Apollo. Expected to pre-release in early 2007, according to Adobe Labs, “Apollo is the code name for a cross-operating system runtime being developed by Adobe that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax) to build and deploy Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) to the desktop.”

Like many, I’ve ever pined for a way to link the joys of dynamic online content with a desktop application. Widgets feel too “disconnected” and “tacked on,” Java’s GUI customization is daunting, complexity in building native applications (for any OS) is a turnoff for the uninitiated, and cross compatibility remains the bane of most existing methods. Thus, Apollo sounds great on paper!

Our laziness is also cause, in large part, for excitement. Web developers shouldn’t have to learn anything new in order to build an Apollo app. Retaining (and practicing) our general web-coding knowledge whilst working on desktop projects is also very appealing. As with widgets, bringing existing content out of browsers should be a mere afternoon endeavor.

Another given target is a complete respect for tight reins over design, giving us “100% control.” Supposedly, this will match the level we’re currently accustomed to with PDF. For similar reasons, most are excited at Adobe’s choice of WebKit for Apollo’s HTML and JavaScript engine.

eBay seems optimistic, as they’re already working on an Apollo project codenamed “San Dimas.” Excellent.

Yet, all is not perfect.

Unfortunately, the 2007 pre-release will only be available for Windows and OS X. Though Linux support is in the schedule, there’s no word on where it falls in the development cycle.

Additionally, few have yet to dabble in Apollo so little is to be said outside of demos and announcements. So, let us be wary; remembering that the Greek’s Apollo was both a god of healing and of plague.

For more information, take a gander at this recent presentation footage (courtesy, Mike Chambers) and visit Adobe Labs Apollo page.

Charlie is a videographer, web developer and occasional correspondent for the WebProNews Video Blog.

Adobe Chief Software Architect Kevin Lynch says that Apollo is one of the first results of Adobe’s merger with Macromedia. Lynch worked for Macromedia, and then served on the companies’ integration team. Apollo was apparently born of several discussions about how Adobe might help developers make use of its array of content presentation technology, including Flash.

The Flash business model is also something the company is keeping in mind, hoping to model Apollo’s version after it. This “standard for delivering high-impact, rich Web content,” as Adobe describes it, has become an extremely popular product since its introduction in 1996.

Lynch says Apollo will come out as a developer release “sometime this year.” It is probably a measure against Microsoft’s looming suite of products that target Adobe’s customer base. Dreamweaver and Flex are two of the endangered programs, and features of the Vista platform could threaten Adobe’s PDF and Flash.

Adobe seems to be preparing for the onslaught, though, and not just with Apollo. A major overhaul of the Flex framework is supposed to ship at the end of the month. The challengers from Microsoft might launch, at the earliest, at the end of the year.

Apollo’s affiliation with Flash technology should help it gain popularity in the market. And depending on how quickly Adobe’s Apollo program progresses, it could provide one more foothold as the company prepares to make its stand against Microsoft.

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Doug is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest eBusiness news.

35 years have passed since a series of disasters nearly claimed the lives of Apollo 13 astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise, and Jack Swigert. When the astronauts called home to report “Houston, we have a problem,” Earth-bound engineers had to find a way to preserve the mission’s remaining oxygen supply and get NASA’s men home safely. The engineers did so, with a cobbled-together solution for filtering carbon dioxide from Apollo 13; duct tape figured prominently in the design.

Former NASA crew systems division head Jim Smylie didn’t know if the astronauts had duct tape with them; fortunately they did. Said Smylie at a recent event recognizing the mission, “I felt like we were home free,” he said. “One thing a Southern boy will never say is, ‘I don’t think duct tape will fix it.’”

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.

Award recipients will be veteran and retired employees of NASA’s Crew Systems Division of 1970, who, after the explosion aboard Apollo 13, had only hours to conceive, fabricate, test and debug the makeshift system, then devise in-flight assembly procedures for the crew. The Division has never been singled out and honored for its achievement.

The first-ever outer space construction project enabled the Aquarius lunar module to work in “lifeboat” mode throughout most of the 142-hour flight. If the small team of engineers had not been able to design, construct and fully test the modified system in time, the three astronauts would have survived in the tiny Aquarius for only about 36 hours.

They would have died of carbon dioxide poisoning soon thereafter and two full days before the return trip could be completed.

GlobalSpec, the leading specialized search engine for the engineering community, will host a breakfast and award ceremony beginning at 8 am CST on Tuesday, April 19, at Space Center Houston, near the Johnson Space Center in Houston. President John Schneiter, PhD, of GlobalSpec will present the award.

On hand to extend their thanks will be Fred Haise, Jr., Apollo 13′s lunar module pilot, and T.K. Mattingly, Apollo 16′s command module pilot. Mattingly, who was originally slated to fly on Apollo 13, contributed ideas for test versions of the modified lithium hydroxide canister.

The crude-looking device was conceived and a mock-up was fabricated during the predawn hours of April 14, 1970, as the crisis unfolded in space and engineering teams on the ground struggled to ensure that the crew could return alive after the aborted mission.

Robert E. “Ed” Smylie, retired chief of the Crew Systems Division, will accept the award on behalf of his fellow employees. A duplicate copy of the award will be displayed for viewing by current employees and visitors at the Crew and Thermal Systems Division, located at the Johnson Space Center.

The GlobalSpec Great Moments in Engineering award is presented annually to a person or group whose singular moment of engineering ingenuity produced a significant turning point for the application of technology and resulting benefits to people, science or industry.

According to Schneiter, the GlobalSpec Great Moments in Engineering Award “will, each year, honor those responsible for a specific moment of ingenuity or inventiveness which in some significant way improved all of our lives.”

“When it came to a safe return of Apollo 13, each employee of NASA’s Crew Systems Division of 1970 was an unsung hero. They rose to the test. GlobalSpec is pleased to be the first to single out and formally recognize this small team for its singular great moment in engineering. They had so little time, yet displayed solid engineering discipline and produced not just an innovative idea but one that would perform well throughout that perilous journey home.”

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