Go check out Grant's post on "gTimer" (codename) and visit his placeholder product page regularly to check of updates.

My favorite:

Flash does rich import of PSD files for the first time. I once calculated that getting a 20-layer PSD into Flash intact took 168 steps; now it's more like two, and the results are far richer. Not only does Flash preserve layers and their names; it also can handle layer nesting, blending modes, layer effects, and more--even preserving live text. Check out the screenshot. If you use Photoshop and Flash, there's your upgrade right there.

Read the full summary here.

This began with a visit to Digg's offices, which are walking distance from Adobe's San Francisco office, a few weeks ago in which Danny Dura, Christian Cantrell and a couple of others from the Apollo team gave Kevin and the Digg team a quick demonstration of Apollo. We were a bit surprised to hear that Kevin had not only heard a lot about Apollo, but he had watched Christian's Apollo demo on Google video. After spending some time explaining Apollo we started talking about some projects that our two companies can work on together. You'll be hearing more about that in the coming months.

View this week's episode here. If you want to see it now you may need to become a Revision3 member. If not, you can wait a couple of days until they release the freely-available version.

Here's a summary of the new release:

Adobe Flash CS3 Professional software is the most advanced authoring environment for creating rich, interactive content for digital, web, and mobile platforms. Create interactive websites, rich media advertisements, instructional media, engaging presentations, games, and more. Designers and developers working on both Macintosh and Windows systems depend on Flash and the ubiquitous Adobe Flash Player software to ensure their content reaches the widest possible audience.

Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator import

Import Adobe Photoshop (PSD) and Adobe Illustrator (AI) files, while preserving layers and structure, and then edit them in Adobe Flash CS3 Professional. Optimize and customize the files during import with advanced options.

Convert animation to ActionScript

Instantly convert timeline animations into ActionScript 3.0 code that can be easily edited, reused, and leveraged by developers. Copy animations from one object to another.

Adobe interface

Enjoy a new, streamlined interface that emphasizes consistency with other Adobe Creative Suite 3 applications and can be customized to improve workflow and maximize stage space.

ActionScript 3.0 development

Save time with the new ActionScript 3.0 language, featuring improved performance, increased flexibility, and more intuitive and structured development.

Advanced debugger

Test content with a powerful, new ActionScript debugger that offers greater flexibility and user feedback, as well as consistency with Adobe Flex Builder 2 debugging.

Adobe Device Central

Design, preview, and test mobile device content using Adobe Device Central CS3, now integrated throughout Adobe Creative Suite 3. Create and test interactive applications and interfaces viewable with Flash Lite software.

Rich drawing capabilities

Visually adjust shape properties on the stage with smart shape drawing tools, create precise vector illustrations with the new Pen tool inspired by Adobe Illustrator, paste illustrations from Illustrator CS3 into Flash CS3 Professional, and more.

User interface components

Create interactive content with new, lightweight, easily skinnable interface components for ActionScript 3.0. Visually modify components' look and feel with the drawing tools — no coding required.

Advanced QuickTime export

Render content published in a SWF file as a QuickTime video using the advanced QuickTime exporter. Export content that includes nested MovieClips, content generated with ActionScript language, and runtime effects such as drop shadow and blur.

Sophisticated video tools

Create, edit, and deploy streaming and progressive-download FLV content with comprehensive video support. Ensure the best video experience with a standalone video encoder, alpha channel support, a high-quality video codec, embedded cue points, video import support, QuickTime import, closed captioning, and much more.

Timesaving coding tools

Save coding time with new code editor enhancements. Focus on relevant code with code collapse and commenting, and jump to code errors with the error navigation feature.

View the full feature tour here.

If you're not familiar, 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. I joined the Apollo team in mid-December of 2006 after working as the Sr. Product Manager for Flash for the last three years.

The resulting coverage of our first public release of Apollo has been overwhelming. I thought I would take a minute to list some links to interesting resources, interviews, demos, and press coverage.

Learning more about Apollo

First of all, if you'd like to know what Apollo is, start by watching the video of Adobe's Chief Software Architect Kevin Lynch giving his Apollo overview at our Apollo Camp event last week.
- http://video.onflex.org/2007/03/19/apollo-camp-keynote-from-kevin-lynch/

Read Mike Chambers' LoggedIn article on the Adobe Developer Center
- http://www.adobe.com/devnet/logged_in/mchambers_apollo.html

Read Kevin Lynch's thoughts on the Apollo alpha
- http://www.klynch.com/archives/000086.html

Read Kevin Lynch's article about Apollo in the Adobe Edge newsletter
- http://www.adobe.com/newsletters/edge/march2007/articles/article1/index.html

Check out the "Apollo for Flex Developers" Pocket Guide by O'Reilly in PDF form on the Adobe Developer Center
- http://www.adobe.com/go/apolloflexpocketguide

Apollo Demos

Watch the video of my 6-minute Apollo demo at the DEMO 07 conference in Palm Springs
- http://www.adobe.com/devnet/videos/apollo_demo07/index.html

Watch Mike Chambers and Christian Cantrell demonstrate two Apollo apps that Christian built in the Edge newsletter
- http://www.adobe.com/newsletters/edge/march2007/video/index.html

Get Started with Apollo

Download Apollo and the SDK
- http://www.adobe.com/go/getapollo

Build your first Apollo app by watching this free training video from Lynda.com, presented by Mike Chambers
- http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?id=378

Read the Apollo Alpha release notes
- http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/apollo/releasenotes.html

Read the Apollo Developer FAQ
- http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Apollo:DeveloperFAQ

Review the Apollo documentation
- http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Apollo:Documentation

Watch Mike Chambers "Introduction to Apollo" presentation on Apollo at Apollo Camp
- http://video.onflex.org/2007/03/19/apollo-camp-introduction-to-apollo-mike-chambers/

Join the Community

Join the Apollo Coders mailing list to ask questions and learn from others in the community - we participate in this as well

- http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/apollocoders/

Monitor the Apollo support forum on adobe.com
- http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/categories.cfm?forumid=72&catid=641

Track what the community is saying on MXNA using the Apollo smart category

Also track community discussion around Apollo on Technorati
- http://www.technorati.com/search/adobe+apollo|Adobe

Apollo Examples

Apollo sample applications on Adobe Labs
- http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Apollo:Applications

FineTune Desktop - Teknision
- http://blog.teknision.com/?p=8

FotoBooth example - EverythingFlex.com
- http://blog.everythingflex.com/2007/03/19/fotobooth-apollo-edition/

Grabit HTML example - EverythingFlex.com
- http://blog.everythingflex.com/2007/03/19/grabit-html-within-apollo/

Fullscreen Papervision with Transparency example - theflexblog.com, Lee Brimelow
- http://theflexblog.com/?p=18

3D Web Apollo Application - theflexblog.com, Lee Brimelow
- http://theflexblog.com/?p=15

Press coverage

Anil Dash of MovableType goes first because he gave Mike Chambers and I a shout-out :)
http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/news/2007/03/adobe-apollo.html

Ryan Stewart on ZDNet

Michael Arrington on Techcrunch

Robert Scoble on scobleizer.com

Ajaxian >> Adobe Apollo Alpha release

Readwriteweb >> Adobe launches Apollo, alpha version

CNET News.com >> Test flight for Adobe's Apollo

blogs.wired.com MonkeyBites >> Adobe Launches Apollo

GigaOM >> The Coming Apollo vs. Firefox Battle

SiliconValley.com >> Adobe introduces Apollo

Adobe targets developers with Apollo | Channel Register

Apollo Alpha to be released to the public | 901am.com

StartupSquad >> Adobe launches Apollo alpha

Apollo Lands | Mashable.com

MacNN >> Adobe releases Apollo Alpha

ITWorld.com >> Adobe releases first Apollo code to developers

SYS-CON >> Adobe Announces Apollo at AJAXWORLD

Plenty of haters on Slashdot :)

You can also track press via Google News or Techmeme

And I've also been tagging press coverage via del.icio.us with "apollopress" - follow it here.

If you want to join me just send me an email - mdowney -at- adobe.com.

2. MacBook Pro 15" - 2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM + Power adapter and spare battery - I don't need to say much about this one. This is by far the best laptop that I've ever had. I run Windows XP via Parallels when I need access to the very few apps that are superior to all others and run on Windows-only, such as Outlook.

3. Apple MagSafe airline adapter - This little power cable is awesome. It plugs right into airline power adapters and gives me unlimited power for those long flights like my upcoming 15-hour trek to Sydney, Australia for WebDU. Plus, this is way lest expensive than those big power bricks that you have to get for other laptops.

4. Moleskine Notebook - These little notebooks are awesome. Great for taking notes or recording your thoughts when the laptop just isn't practical.

5. Mont Blanc Meisterstuck Platinum Rollerball pen - I really hesitated to spend this much money on a pen because I knew I would lose it - until I tried writing with it. I don't know what's so special about Mont Blanc pens, but this one writes so nicely. And I've actually carried it with me every day for over two years, so I guess I can manage to keep from losing some things!

6. Apple iPod 5.5G Black 80GB - A must have. Period. I also sometimes carry the little iPod Shuffle that Lynda Weinman gave me for Christmas. It's so small that it's easy to stuff in your bag and use as a back-up when your full-size iPod's batteries run out. It's also good to take with you when you go jogging or hiking because it's very light-weight.

7. Shure E500PTH Earbud Headphones - These were strongly recommended to me by Audition/SoundBooth Product Manager (and resident audiophile) Hart Schafer. He said he read a review where someone described them as being, "like sex for your ears." Though that's a little creepy, I have to say that these things do sound absolutely amazing. And they're noise canceling, which is nice for air travel. TIP: Buy them on Ebay from Power Seller "Wind130". I saved $215 on a brand new pair and they had them over-nighted to me - great service!

8. Nintendo DS Lite (black) + Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart DS and charger - Great for passing time on those long flights. Also good for finding challengers at conferences. There seems to be a lot of Mario Kart players out there. Built-in wi-fi makes it easy to find a competitor.

9. Canon SD800 IS compact camera + 2GB SD card and charger - I'm a big photography nut and I usually care my Canon 5D SLR with a kit of lenses every where I go. But I also keep this super-tiny, compact, high-quality point-and-shoot in my bag at all times. It's just great little camera - and with Image Stabilizer built in (a relatively new feature for this class of camera), it works really well in low-light situations. This model has been replaced by a newer version with more megapixels, but you can still pick this model up at a hefty discount.


10. SureFire E2E Executive Elite Xenon Pocket Handheld Flashlight - I learned about this freakin' amazing little flashlight from an article about the gear used in Fox's action drama series "24". When I started doing a little research I found that this flashlight is really awesome. I always carry a small flashlight with me when on the road because you never know when you might need one. I also keep one with my big camera kit as it's good for fiddling around with your gear when you're shooting at night.

11. Western Digital 160GB Portable HD - I always keep an external HD with me. I try to back up my most critical files as often as possible, just in case something happens to my laptop. I also use it to offload all of my big DNG files from my SLR - as they tend to fill up my laptop HD pretty quickly.

Nice work, Lee!

During the development of The North Face Kiosk I never thought what they were doing with WPF would have ever been possible, with acceptable performance, with Flash anytime in the near future. I was wrong, take a look…

http://www.actionscriptarchitect.com/2007/02/28/flash-video-on-3d/

[via Ben Stucki and Chafic Kazoun]

If you haven't had a chance to see this demo yet, you might want to check it out. It's a quick, six minute demo of a very cool Apollo application being developed by Ebay and Effective UI.

Watch it here.

Also joining the ranks of Flash product management is one of my closest friends, Richard Galvan, who is now the Technical Product Manager for Flash. There is not a person who is better-suited for this role. Richard is incredibly bright, friendly, outgoing, knows Flash like the back of his hand, and is an ideal spokesperson for the product out in the community. He will be presenting two sessions on Flash the upcoming Dx3 conference, one of them focused on Flash video - which happens to be his expertise.

Richard promises to keep up with his new blog, so bookmark it now. :)

It's also worth mentioning that former Flash designer/developer relations manager Justin Everett-Church has moved over to the Platform group joining Emmy Huang, now Group Product Manager for Flash Player, as the Sr. Product Manager for Flash Player.

The pieces are all falling into place! This is exciting news.

As a product manager I do a LOT of flying. I've flown over 750,000 miles in my seven years with Macromedia/Adobe. Living in San Francisco, I choose to fly United Airlines everywhere because I can fly to almost any major city in the world non-stop. And to enjoy the limited perks afforded by United Airlines, I need to fly over 100,000 miles on their airline (or a Star Alliance partner) per year. So basically, to make United tolerable I have to fly them as much as possible - a situation that gets harder and harder every year.

United has simply lost sight of what's most important: the customer. The more and more I fly, the worse things get. I often feel as though United staffers think I should consider flying on their airline a privilege. It's as though I should be thankful when I get treated like a customer. "Please be nice to me today! I swear I'll be a good passenger. I'll even try to pay more for my over-priced ticket next time."

The examples I could give are endless. A few weeks ago I flew from New York's La Guardia airport to Washington Dulles. I arrived at the United gate only to hear an announcement that my flight would be delayed by an hour. About 45 mins later, they announced a delay of two more hours. That's fine - weather, air traffic delays, etc, - they happen. However, it was getting to the point where I needed to re-evaluate my travel options because I needed to get to DC. So like half of my fellow passengers, I went looking for a ticket agent to help me. There were none - anywhere. So we all stood around, giving each other that "what the hell?" look. Thirty minutes went by with three United gates, all filled with confused passengers, and not a single United employee in sight. Finally, an agent comes stomping through the crowd and sits down behind one of the gates, focusing directly on her computer. She never once makes eye contact with a single person. She just sits there, typing away while more and more people inch closer, just staring at her awaiting some kind of recognition that we're all paying humans - a simple "We're having some difficulties, folks. I'll help you in just a few moments" would have sufficed. But nothing. It was as if we were annoying pests that might go away if she just pretended that we weren't there.

I could go on, but I won't. Instead, I will point out that while the big, fat, inefficient behemoth of a mega-corp continues to just not get it, the nimble, innovative, customer-comes-first, newcomers are looking to expose their biggest weaknesses. JetBlue airlines started this trend: low prices, more comfortable seats, TVs in every seat, etc. But now Virgin America seems to be intending to take things to a whole new level. And this customer is very interested.

In the video below, Virgin America's CEO gives a tour of their new planes. Modern, comfortable seating with extra leg room, standard power in every single seat on the plane (United has a few planes with power in business and first class only), USB (not sure what that's for), ETHERNET and WiFi (!!! does this mean broadband in flight?), and my favorite: a touch screen multimedia entertainment system with satellite TV, on-demand movies, a library of over 3,000 songs with the ability to create your own playlist, video games, intra-seat social networking via chat and multiplayer games, digital shopping catalog, and an in-flight electronic ordering system for food and drinks. Awesome... The only thing that would make it better would be a friendly gate agent who doesn't disappear, provides service with a smile, and treats me as if they're happy to have my business.

And they're going to donate 25% of their profits to help fight global warming.

Enjoy the tour:

I've known Josh for a few years now and I know that he's one of the best Flash developers out there. Plus, he has real world experience with leading the development effort of a large team working for very big name clients - so he can offer some insights from real-world situations. If you're looking to hone your Flash development skills, or just learn more about architecting rich media websites, you'll want to check this one out. Admission is US$500.

Register here.

This workshop will focus on what goes on under the hood of rich media experience websites and games deployed with Adobe Flash. We will begin with general concepts such as overall code architecture and file structure for a large scale, high functionality project and discuss the process and workflow between the various teams at Big Spaceship. The session will then move into specifics which will be largely determined by the interests and questions of the attendees, but should remain more focused on the development side of things.

The content of the session will mainly focus on Flash 8 and ActionScript 2, but attention will be given throughout to features and differences that will appear in ActionScript 3.

Topics may include:

* Object oriented architecture and best practices in ActionScript 2
* Optimization for performance
* Optimization of preloading sequences
* Rapid Prototyping
* Animating with code
* Preparing for ActionScript 3

Location: 785 Market, 2nd Floor (one block from the Powell Street BART Station) San Francisco, CA 94103

While watching today's Super Bowl pregame show I noticed that Salesgenie.com was sponsoring the show - and running commercials at every break. I can only imagine how much money this must have cost them. It has to be in the millions of dollars.

So I decide to go check it out - on my Mac...

On the Mac I see this on their homepage:

I figured this had to be a CSS rendering issue to I fired up Parallels and opened the same page in IE7 in Windows XP. This is what the same page looked like:

Note to all companies who think it's a good idea to spend millions on Super Bowl ads/sponsorships to send potential customers to your website: TEST YOUR FREAKIN SITE IN MORE THAN IE WINDOWS! Sorry, but it's just irresponsible.

While I'm ranting, why do the Super Bowl pregame and halftime performances have to suck so bad? Just put a high school/college marching band out on the field with some frisbee-catching dogs and call it a day. I don't want to watch Gloria Estefan and some other unnamed performer dancing around in colorful costumes. I don't want to see Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson groping each other. I don't want to see Aerosmith doing a duet with Britney freakin Spears! Ugh...