Flash Quiz on the HTC Hero

I wanted to show you this video of a Question Writer Flash Quiz running on the HTC Hero smartphone. The Hero runs Google's Android operating system and also includes the Flash plugin.

This quiz is running through the Hero's browser in the video, but I suspect it won't be long before you'll be able to convert a piece of Flash into an Android App. It's exciting because mobile apps are going to be a big growth area in the next 2-3 years, and a good Flash player on Android is going to allow Flash developers to compete. (Some estimates of Flash developers run into the millions)

Also even non-technical users will be able to turn their Flash content into Apps - For example, I'm hoping to have a 'Publish as an Android App' in the Question Writer publish menu, so that users can sell the content they create in the Android Market without having to get bogged down with all the technical details that usually go with creating a mobile app.

Some interesting technical details for you Flash geeks -

The plugin identifies itself as AFL 9,1,122,0 - I'm guessing this stands for 'Android Flash Lite'. However, this is the most powerful Flash player I've ever seen on a mobile device - I've seen Flash Lite 3 running on Nokia phones, and this is in a totally different league. This player seems to have the full memory and processor of the phone available to it.

The screen resolution from the quiz is returned as 314x480 - I'm not sure if that's accurate as it seems to take up the whole screen without any borders on the side.

The directional control on the Hero doesn't affect the focus - I hope it will when Flash 10 is released for Android in October, I know a lot of Flash games rely on this kind of directional control.

If you'd like to get started making mobile quizzes in Question Writer, you can download the mobile theme here, which is a variation on the Information Technology template at a 320x480 size. You'll also need the Nokia pixel font or another pixel font for best results.

Posted by Alexander at August 25, 2009 12:48 AM

Make Flash tests and assessments with the Question Writer, Quiz Software. Question Writer 4 is now available. Click here to download.

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Comments

I like the Question Writer tool, very simple but effective. Seems pretty reusable for standard test purposes as well. + The HTC Hero is pretty sick and can't wait to get one.

Posted by: derek knox at August 25, 2009 04:12 AM

Hi Alex,

Just read your post on the Flash Lite player on the HTC Hero. The 'A' in the version string probably was not meant to stand for 'Android', as it has also appeared in the version string on some Nokia phones; this was identified as a glitch in need of fixing:

http://www.flashmobileblog.com/2009/05/29/nokia-5800-updates-to-flash-lite-31/

so it's probably a bug in the Flash Lite implementation on the Hero.

For what it's worth, I figured the 'A' stood for 'Adobe' when I saw it on my Nokia 5800.

Posted by: Darren at August 25, 2009 11:43 AM