Use of OSMF in example Flash templates for Google TV - google-tv

I have been looking through the source code for the Flash-based Google TV example templates, available here:
https://developers.google.com/tv/web/docs/gtv-templates
I noticed that the OSMF doesn't appear to be used for the video player parts.. were there any reasons for this, was it a conscious design decision (or not)?
Thanks!

When these Templates were designed and developed, we had to support both HTML5 and Flash. Our partner Adobe recommended OSMF in their Flash optimization guide for Google TV: http://www.adobe.com/devnet/devices/articles/video_content_tv.html.
But due to resources constraint we did not include things like OSMF unfortunately. If you have working sample code that incorporates OSMF, please consider adding them to the Templates.
Thank you!

Related

Vision based Augmented Reality Objective-C library

I'm looking for an Objective-C library / or just help in building a vision-based augmented reality application that does not rely on visual markers.
Qualcomm's is perfect, but only on Android (iOS is coming, but not soon enough). Any body know any other similar libraries?
QCAR for iOS has recently been released into public beta.
The only one I'm aware of is String, and I've become aware of that only via this iPhone + Kinect AR video (YouTube link) that recently did the rounds. So I've no direct experience of using it and no opinion on it, but I nevertheless think it qualifies as an answer to your question. It's commercial, but I think Qualcomm's is too.
Benjamin Loulier created a VRToolKit sample application for the iPhone that is based on the ARToolKitPlus framework. This sample uses the framework to track specific markers within the environment and allows you to overlay objects on them. I've seen some even more impressive demonstrations of this framework for using the camera to augment reality.
However, the ARToolKit framework (the parent of ARToolKitPlus) is by default available under the GPL license, which generally makes it incompatible with the App Store (and with commercial applications in general). You can purchase a commercial-use license for this framework from ARToolworks, if you need to use this within a non-GPL application.
Additionally, you might look into OpenCV for recognizing and tracking features in the environment. I've heard reports of people getting fairly decent performance out of it on iOS devices, even for more complex operations.
I've done some limited work myself in processing the video from the iPhone camera using the GPU, but nothing like what ARToolKit or OpenCV provides.
Have you looked at Aurasma http://www.aurasma.com/? They let you build custom apps with their system, which might suit your needs.

Cloudmade API Turn by Turn - can custom voiced be used?

Anyone with experience using the Cloudmade api for iphone apps? I'm being asked if it's feasible to incorporate custom voices for the turn by turn navigation it offers.
Any advice appreciated!
Basically, you can get the turn-by-turn routing as an XML (see documentation) and feed the instructions to the Text-to-Speech engine (I'm afraid there's nothing out-of-the-box for iPhone, so I'd suggest you give a try to Flite or a similar).
I'm not sure Cloudmade SDK does anything different than that, also incorporating some TTS engine in their SDK. For sure, this is exactly what I did for an Android application myself for turn-by-turn routing.

what are the main limitations of titanium as a mobile development platform?

I intend to start an iphone/android project with the titanium SDK for mobile. Do you know what are the main feature-wise pitfalls to avoid ? what sort of features will be very hard or impossible to achieve ?
I understand that there is a plugin system to circumvent these limitations. Do you have information on that ?
Thank you for your help,
Jerome Wagner
I have yet to find a particular piece of Android functionality that is missing from Titanium. Not sure if widgets are in the current 1.5.1 mobile release or are coming in 1.6. In any case, the coverage is pretty decent, as you will see if you try out the "kitchen sink" app.
But here are some things I find lacking:
Titanium's Android support is still much buggier than iPhone support. For instance, I can't get global events to work properly--that's pretty important functionality.
documentation isn't complete; the API docs are skimpy
you're on your own; Appcelerator employees don't bother to answer questions online (even when they concern obvious bugs on their end), unless you subscribe to a support plan
That said, I've found developing Android apps with Titanium to be much more enjoyable than dealing with the Android SDK!
I agree with most of what #Drew stated above.
The API documentation is for the "most part" pretty complete, yes there are a few missing pieces, but hey the framework is free, they push releases pretty frequently and all the source code is available for you to go through yourself. You also have full access to the Continuous Integration Builds
I believe the 1.6.0 release has addressed additional issues with Andorid support, there is also a bug tracking system for you to investigate and report issues.
You are not on your own any more than with any other similar framework... Occasionally employees will review specific issues that show up in the Q&A Forum but the forum is very active and there is tons of community support. I would be surprised if you could write most of an application from just cutting and pasting from the Q&A questions and you will find the rest in the Kitchen Sink Example or Tweetanium Example Projects.
You asked about a plugin system. Titanium offers the ability to develop your own custom native modules.
The Titanium's Module Developers Guide (PDF) isn't the best, but it will get you started.
As Drew said, many of the Titanium's Android support is buggier compared to iPhone.
Titanium is meant for people who never wanted to learn the native iphone and Android programming. If you know to develop applications using objective C and you wanted to develop applications for iPhone then don’t even think of Titanium, the same case applies to Android too. Only if you are lazy to learn a language, you can opt for Titanium.
1.The size of the Application is a big concern here.
2. Some of the features in Android which was shown to be working in developer reference were not working. Even after being filed as bugs, they were not updated in developer’s reference that it works only in iPhone. For example, “focus” events of the window is handled only in iPhone and never in Android.
To get to know in details, the problems Titanium can bring you read the following post:
http://mobworld.wordpress.com/2011/01/10/titanium-framework/

Is anyone using Sencha Touch for mobile development?

We're evaluating Sencha Touch for mobile development. Has anyone used this yet (I realize that it's still in beta), and if so, what are its strengths / weaknesses? How does it compare to alternatives?
It certainly sounds compelling.
Thanks!
I'm playing with Sencha Touch, I have a project up at GitHub. If you're comfortable with ExtJS it will be familiar. The examples are impressive (requires WebKit browser). You might be interested in this question as well.
I've used it only briefly. It looks very good and has a nice array of tools to make pseudo-native apps. One of the larger concerns is the licensing (the inclusion of ExtJS and the requirement to purchase a license to use the software). Now ExtJS and Sencha have merged - so I am unsure of what the impact will be. Also, as for alternatives, Sencha has merged in JQTouch (a primary alternative). See this post for more information
I think currently it is only optimized for safari-browser. I tried in on Android Phone (HTC Magic, Android 1.6) and the examples didn't work.
but it is a beta of course....
Currently ,i'm using sencha-touch in my project and pretty easy to use and understand especially with the documentation that comes along with it . As compared other mobile fameworks whose documentation is limited

Which toolkit for iPhone mobile webapps?

I'm aware of several Javascript frameworks that assist in creating webapps for the iPhone and ipod Touch:
Joe Hewitt's iui -- http://code.google.com/p/iui/
Ciui -- A revised take on Joe's work by Vladimir Olexa of CNET -- http://code.google.com/p/ciui-dev/
WebApp -- by Chrilith. http://webapp.net.free.fr/ Unfortunately, he doesn't publish his code until after a release.
I'm leaning towards Ciui but want your thoughts.
Which toolkit do you use for iPhone webapps?
Thanks,
Larry
ADDED following from the answers:
Sproutcore
JQuery Mobile -- still under development. From the JQuery team
JQtouch -- superset of JQuery. Possible issue of library size
Cappuccino -- comment by Ryan McCuaig: by 280 North. In philosophy, they're porting Cocoa and Objective-C to the Javascript environment (right down to Objective-C style syntax extensions to Javascript and reusing NIB files. Quite incredible).
Wink
xui
Jo by Dave Balmer (blog). Designed to work with PhoneGap, it can be used to build web apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, plus native apps (via PhoneGap) for iPhone, Android, webOS, and Symbian. See the demo video. Set res to 720p to read the screen.
Zepto.js by Thomas Fuchs of scriptaculous fame
ChocolateChip-UI
JQtouch vs JQuery
Added Dec 12, 2010. Here is a comment on a public board about JQtouch vs JQuery mobile from Dave Oliver:
JQuery Mobile is another evolutionary step past JQTouch. JQTouch is stable now (and features are included in the Sencha Touch framework), while JQuery Mobile is only in Alpha state at this point.
Having "learned the lessons" of JQTouch, JQuery Mobile adopts some new philosophy that may or may not be to your liking. Among other things, it defines a "cross platform look and feel" (though it will later add a version of JQuery's automated theme generator). JQTouch, by comparison, is neutral (though you have to do some work to make your look and feel look the way you want it).
The primary negative you sometimes hear about JQTouch is the lack of a fixed position footer and sub-pane scrolling (reason: iPhone native apps have these features). It turns out other smart people have solved that problem in ways that work inside JQTouch (see, e.g., iScroll).
I think the JQuery team is working on a very compelling offering, and I think it will see a lot of interest and additional community scrutiny which is good. But, having experimented with it for a real application, it is - at this point - a bit too new to consider for production use. "Watch This Space", as they say.
Apple has provided some tools within Dashcode to quickly make basic native-looking web apps.
But...
I've been finding that I get buried in great big incomprehensible masses of div and event-listener spaghetti working down at the jQuery/Prototype level. We're looking into moving up a couple of levels of abstraction into MVC frameworks. What we feel we need is the web app equivalent of Cocoa Touch.
The two we're investigating are:
Sproutcore, which I understand is used by Apple for their Mobile Me web apps,
Cappuccino, by 280 North. In philosophy, they're porting Cocoa and Objective-C to the Javascript environment (right down to Objective-C style syntax extensions to Javascript and reusing NIB files. Quite incredible).
According to the Flickr team, for which I have much respect, you shouldn't use frameworks. Instead, focus on wringing out all performance possible via small size and careful http queries:
"1. Don’t Use a JavaScript Library or CSS Framework "
Flickr developer blog post