An update about our developer program
by @chuckstar
Things at litl have been busy and exciting these past few months. After winning the multiscreen award at Adobe MAX in October, we've been focused on securing markets for our existing webbook device and the TV set top box prototype. In our search for the ideal market to sell devices and promote developer apps, we've found our webbook has already struck a chord with several groups of users - particularly those looking for simplicity in everyday computing. And it makes sense. We've made photo sharing a snap, accessing the web as simple as possible, and turned Facebook into a relaxing and entertaining experience.
Our company has decided to focus on delivering more experiences and devices to markets where simple computing is essential. This strategy will affect our existing developer community efforts in a few ways:
1. As most platforms continue to do, we will no longer be looking for any-and-all apps from developers. In the coming months, we will assemble a specific list of apps based on core values of simple computing. We will work with industry experts, content and service providers, as well as developers to cultivate the very best applications for our users. This will allow us to focus platform SDK features and support on apps that bring the most valuable experience to our users.
2. Access to the litl SDK will be limited to only developers who have been approved to work with us on apps for our newly focused markets. If you are an existing registered developer, you will be among the first to be invited to re-join our community once everything is set in place. If you have been working on a litl app (also known as a Channel), we will be announcing details on a final submission date soon. Developers that formerly submitted apps for review by our Feb 14 deadline, as part of our MAX incentive program, will have their apps reviewed and be rewarded accordingly.
3. We are taking steps to dramatically increase our platform's distribution in key markets. Developers will find renewed opportunity as we ship devices to new users that we expect will purchase apps to further simplify their computing experience. We hope to create new incentive programs around these opportunities to help meet the demand of apps on our platform.
We have a great opportunity to continue improving the way people of all ages use technology and, our focus in strategy will help solidify our platform as the perfect launchpad for valuable applications for users looking to us for simple computing.
litl now accepting Channel Submissions
by @chuckstarYou can now submit Channels to be reviewed, published, and distributed to litl device users!
We have spent months designing and developing a process that, true to our brand, made it as simple as possible to publish and manage your Flash-based Channels. The process starts with a simple entry of your Channel name and description and includes what may be the most transparent app review process in the industry. Here is what you can do now:
1. Register your Channel name and idea
Whether you've started building your channel or even downloaded the SDK and Simulator, you can register your Channel now. All you need is a developer account and you can "Create a Channel." After you've signed into your developer account, simply click the "Channels" link on the left side navigation and hit the "Create a Channel" button. Fill out the easy form, including Channel name and description. This will let us know of your plans to soon build and publish the channel. While it won't prevent other developers from doing something similar, you can reserve the name and it does help us support you should the Channel idea get us excited!
2. Upload the Channel package and Images
Once you've registered your Channel name/idea, you can continue, or return to the site in the near future, and upload the Channel package. The package consists of your completed .swf file and a few other files you need to round out your Channel. This step also lets you upload screenshots of your Channel in action, which will eventually be featured in the listing of your Channel in our Channel store.
3. Submit your Channel for review
Lastly, you submit your channel to be reviewed by a member of our team. We'll evaluate your channel and make sure it meets checkpoints in our submission guidelines. We have implemented a very friendly and transparent process for giving you feedback on your channel, and should we find anything that needs further attention, you will receive a report card outlining exactly what we suggest you modify so we can get your Channel in the store as soon as possible.
Future features
In the coming months, we'll be implementing new features into our litl OS that support users purchasing Channels. These features will make their first into the Channel submission process, so you can ultimately set a price for your Channel and setup your account to receive payments from your Channel sales.
Check out @litldev at #FITC and win a @litl webbook!
by @chuckstarWith a mind-blowing speaker lineup and the return of a Flash conference to San Francisco, we are proud to be supporting FITC San Fran this year!
Come visit us at our booth, check out the award-winning webbook, learn about our Flash SDK and meet members of our awesome Channel dev and SDK teams.
Each day, we will give out a free webbook to one lucky conference attendee. To enter, attend FITC SF and simply do any or all of the following things during the conference (August 17-19):
1. Sign up for the litl SDK at http://developer.litl.com
2. Register your channel name in the "Channels" section of the Dev Center.
3. ReTweet this post "RT @litldev Check out @litldev at #FITC and win a @litl webbook! http://bit.ly/9daNV2" (try using the Tweet widget).
We will randomly draw one winning entry each day and notify the winner by e-mail or Twitter DM. Increase your chances by entering all three ways!
And as a bonus, you can also win a fourth way:
4. Attend litl Channel Developer Kevin Suttle's (@kevinsuttle) session "It's all about Context" on Tuesday at 11:15 a.m. At the end of Kevin's session, he will give one away!
So there you go, we're giving away one webbook per day for signing up for the SDK, registering a channel, or Tweeting, and an additional webbook to an attendee of Kevin's session on Tuesday.
Contest begins Tuesday, August 17th at 12:01 a.m and ends Thursday, August 19 at 4:00 p.m. PST. Limit of one entry per valid e-mail or Twitter account per day, and one webbook per person. Winners must claim their webbooks in person at the FITC SF conference site. Entries will carry forward each day.
New version of the SDK available!
by @ryancanullaWe're happy to announce that a new version of the SDK has been released! You can download it from the main page or the SDK and tools page. Here's a list of changes made in this round of revisions.
Controls
- Improved scrollable list performance when changing scrollPosition multiple times per frame.
- Added a background color to ArrowSkin.
- Moved ArrowButton to a different package.
- Added SearchButton.
- Added TextInput control.
- Added ScrollBar control.
- Modified VerticalList to use new scrollbar instead of previous arrows.
- Fixed resizing bug with stylable button.
- Changed vertical list to scroll to pixel instead of to the nearest item.
- Added displayAsPassword property to TextInput.
- Fixed bug where slideshow would not move to the previous item when on the first item.
- Fixed TextInput text not visible on device.
- Controls now createChildren immediately on instantiation.
- ScrollableList now dispatches events when an ioerror happens.
- Fixed RTE when scrollPosition is set but no dataprovider is set.
- Text input no longer throws RTE if no text or label was set.
- Fixed ScrollableList bug with a plain image dataProvider.
- Fix for not being able to set initial scrollPosition on Filmstrip.
Simulator
- View controls now reset correctly when switching between channels.
- Auto-update mechanism.
- Log message order is now correct if multiple messages occur at the same time.
- Channel details is now collapsible.
- Layout improvements.
- Look and feel improvements.
- Added log list filter box.
- Added hasOptions indicator.
- Added shared parameters edit dialog.
- Properties tab now displays properties stored by the channel.
Channel Submission Criteria up on developer.litl.com!
by @ryancanullaCheck out our submission criteria! We’ve made an easy checklist for you to use when creating or submitting channels in our upcoming channel store (both free and paid). We hope that this takes away some of the guesswork with regards to what we will be checking your channels against during the submission process! We’ve broken it down to “channels should” and “channels must”. Can we make it any easier?
Check it out here:
http://developer.litl.com/create/submissioncriteria.htm
Flash channel ecosystem taking shape this summer with litl SDK
by @chuckstar Lots of exciting things coming together with the litl OS and SDK. The team has been growing as well as the developer community. A new batch of litl webbooks shipped and many went to developers eager to build Flash channels for the OS. We have a very busy summer planned and we are on schedule [...]I’ve joined litl
by @kevinsuttle
No, you are not having déjà vu.
I have accepted a position at litl, LLC and could not be more happy about being a part of such an innovative and talented group of people. Here are the FAQ:
When do you start? June 21 was my first day (today).
Are you moving to Boston? Even though I love it there, I won’t be moving to Boston. I will be working remotely.
What will your title be? I am a Channel Developer.
What will you be doing there? I’ll be joining the Channel team, developing content for the web book and the upcoming web-based TV product. I’ll also be working with the talented SDK and evangelism team consisting of:
Ashley Atkins
Kathyrn Rotondo
Ryan Canulla
and Chuck Freedman
In addition of being a part of a supremely savvy company and development platform, I’ll be helping evangelize the litl SDK at various conferences and related events. My first tour stop with litl will be:
Columbus Flash/Flex User Group – August 13, 2010
I can’t mention any more specifics just yet (more soon as it becomes finalized), but there are a lot of conferences left in the year and a lot of blogs to contribute to. Expect much more in the way of litl and contextual application architecture here on Commented Out and in person at a RIA event near you.
So, why the move? This is a loaded question, but I’ll cover the biggest reasons.
1. Growth as a developer. Let me be clear about the folks at litl: there are a LOT of SERIOUSLY intelligent people working here, from a wide array of backgrounds. From design and UX, to OS engineering, to Flash development/SDK, to hardware integration, to marketing, there is no shortage of insight and world-class professionalism. Being constantly exposed to that level of knowledge diversity is the type of environment where you quickly can jump light years ahead in your personal abilities. It’s like the NBA players that no one knew until they played with Michael Jordan, vastly improving their skills just by being around him.
2. Being able to show my work. This sounds odd, I’m sure, but for the majority of my career, I’ve been under strict NDA, and many of you know the pain of trying to explain what it is we do. When I showed my dad litl’s site, he got super excited. “How do I set my home page to litl.com?” he asked me. Every time I talk to him now, he mentions how cool he thinks the litl web book and OS concept is. He now has something tangible that he can touch, see, and experience for himself, but more importantly, that he can show other people as a proud dad. The same goes for my wife, the ultimate salesperson, who has already started carrying the web book around in effort to draw interest from the general public. Well, that and she “loves it!” Those conversations with friends and family about what I do just got a lot easier. It also helps that I believe in litl as a platform and as a respected player in our industry. Which bring me to my next point:
3. litl has become a driving force in the Flash Platform. It’s pretty awesome to work for a company that is embracing Flash on all levels of product integration and to see that the Flash Platform itself is being furthered by the products that are being delivered by litl. I heard some great quotes from John Underkoffler (the inventor of the real-life Minority Report UI) during his TED talk on the cloud as an interface:
“The cloud IS the interface…”
“… we’ve got the Web and, increasingly, the cloud, which is fantastic, but also in the regard in which an interface is fundamental, kind of a distraction. So we’ve forgotten to invent new interfaces.”
And that’s exactly where litl comes in. litl’s ground-breaking OS has been so successful because of the right balances of design and development, the sweet spot of a wonderful user experience. Harnessing the cloud by way of the Flash Platform and delivering it in such a beautifully crafted package was no simple task, and yet litl presented developers and consumers with something totally new, and technologically unique. Now THAT is exciting, and a big part of my decision to come aboard.
Needless to say, it’s a huge move and even a bit overwhelming, but one that I know is a step in the right direction for my family, and for my career.
However, the fact that I get to work with Chuck Freedman may prove a little confusing for many.
Oh, and you might be wondering about the significance of the photo above. When I got my suitcase out to pack for my trip to Boston, there were only 2 things in it: the cap I bought at my first Red Sox game, and the pack of cards that explain the design philosophy behind the litl. If that’s not a sign, I don’t know what is.
litl SDK Available, Developers get webbook for $199
by @chuckstar At FlashAndTheCity, we officially launched our Developer Center at http://developer.litl.com. You can now sign up for the SDK, which is in private beta. To date, we’ve approved 75% of developer signups based on Flash experience, and more importantly, ideas for channels developers want to build. The latter is important to ensure we dedicate support early [...]Happy to join litl as SDK Support Agent!
by @ryancanullaMy name is Ryan Canulla, and I’m happy to be joining the litl family! I’m a flash/flex guy living and working here in Boston. I picked up Flash in college and started in on the timeline making things move and creating some basic movies. I’ve always been drawn to Flash because of how easy it has been to create rich content both quickly and efficiently. I’ve since moved on from the timeline and pushed my experiments to the next level with ActionScript 3.0. I can proudly say that AS3 has been a big part of my life.
A few years back I decided to teach myself how to write code-using AS3, and I’ve never looked back. I went from making things “just work” to becoming a better coder using Object Oriented Programming (OOP). Once OOP clicked in my head it was like seeing with a new pair of glasses for the first time. Everything was clearer, better organized (less blurry), and more efficient. Nowadays, I find myself experimenting with generating art from code, physical computing and just about anything else someone talks about online, at a conference, or a user group. Simply put, I can’t get enough!
The litl device is so interesting to me. It’s light, sleek, and let’s be honest, easel mode should have been incorporated into traditional laptops years ago! Since my start at litl, I find myself deconstructing my everyday in-home activities trying to find a way that a lilt channel can make my life easier. The good news is with the release of the SDK I won’t have to build my own, or think of them myself either!
My position here at litl is to support open channel developers. I’m going to focus my time on getting our developers the tools they need to get off the ground quickly and with a small learning curve. In addition to answering developer questions on the forums, I’ll be writing tutorials and blog posts, sharing full code examples, holding online meeting sessions, and hopefully visiting your favorite user groups!
In the meantime, if there are things you want to learn, you’re having trouble with in the SDK, or you just want to get my take on a channel idea, feel free to reach out to me on twitter (ryancanulla), my blog (ryancanulla.com), via email (rcanulla [at] litl.com, or on our forums when we launch the SDK.
Expect BIG things from litl at Flash and the City
by @kevinsuttle A few weeks ago, I was invited to join a special group of developers in Boston at litl to kick the tires on the web book and preview the upcoming SDK in a hands-on training session. I wanted to take this time to publicly thank them for having me and giving me a sneak peek [...]We won!
