SXSW Interactive Mobile Conference Guide
I said that I was working on a new app to release at SXSW. It is now complete so I would like to introduce to you SXSW Interactive, a Flash Lite conference guide.
I came up with the idea last weekend and started development on it Monday night. The first version was finished Tuesday late night (Wednesday early morning) but it had only been tested on a Sony Ericsson P910 (Symbian UIQ OS). Everything worked great and I thought it would be a simple port to the Symbian Series 60 OS. So I picked up a new Series 60 phone (Nokia 6260) on my way home from work Wednesday evening and quickly tried to test the UIQ version on it. Unfortunately I ran into a memory problem with the phone.
Originally it was developed so user wouldn't be required to be connected to view the conference information. Well SXSW has over 90 interactive panels this year, so I was dealing with around 400 variables sitting in the phones memory at all times. This put a noticeable strain on the P910, but it still worked. On the 6260 the phone would run out of memory after a few clicks though the app. With only having limited development time before the conference, and client projects that needed attention as well, I opted just to load in the data needed for the particular day the user was on. Needless to say everything is running great on all devices now, but users will need to be connected to use the app.
So without further explanation I present to you SXSW Interactive Mobile Conference Guide. Please download the appropriate file below and let me know if you come across any problems.
Special thanks to Cody Beckner and John Bland for their help in developing and testing the application. And to Dale Rankine, who developed a similar application for MXDU, for answering my emails and giving me a heads up on the font face that looks so pretty on the Series 60 phones.

Comments
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marc brown
03.08.05 11:20 PM
Cool app!
And very nice font on my nokia 6630.
I just downloaded FlashLite after seeing your post, I wonder how I get my bluetooth files out of the inbox and into the actual Flash Lite app.
One note, my phone asks me to confirm my internet connection each time i move from day to day... I don't know if it is possible for you to keep the connection open.
Mason Poe
03.09.05 10:07 PM
I downloaded the app and tried to play it just in the flash player. No go, as you might have expected. I commend you on your efforts; programming in flash 4 is no easy task.
Have fun at SXSW! and take lots of pics and post them on flicker. :)
Michael Hagel
03.09.05 10:26 PM
Marc,
Thanks for the feedback. If you are using a Series 60 phone you can select the application from the Bluetooth Inbox and then under options you should have the ability to save. This will automatically move the file to the Flash folder on either your phone or your memory card (depending on which you select).
Sometimes when using the app you are ask to connect in order to download each day, other times the connection will stay open and won't prompt you to connect. I am not exactly sure what causes this. I have noticed that if I was previously checking emails, or browsing the web my connection will stay open, but if I just open the app I am ask to connect when download the first and second day but not any of the others.
Michael Hagel
03.09.05 10:29 PM
Mason,
When testing it in the Flash player what was not working? If you downloaded the Series 60 version you won't be able to use the mouse to navigate around, only the left, right, up, down and enter buttons (the 5-Way nagivation on a phone). Although if you were testing the UIQ version, that OS is mainly navigated via a touch screen so the mouse clicks should work. Both should function in the stand alone Flash player though.
I'll be taking pics and will post some up once I get back!
Frank fernandis
07.19.07 1:33 AM
it's great to join him and other Flash Lite developers around in helping to excite and extend ideas in this little niche area of Flash development.
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