I’ve also posted the deck for this presentation on SlideShare so you can review it at your leisure (or view it directly below).

It may surprise some, but I won’t be getting too deep into the technical aspects of game interface construction (so not too much code), I will be looking at how you can leverage different tools and technologies when creating your game interfaces though. If this sounds like something that you’d like to know more about then please come along and join me for a fun-filled hour on the last day of MAX.

Session Title: Designing Game Interfaces, Wednesday, October 5, 3:30p.m.-4:30p.m – Room 411

For more details check out the MAX scheduler

• Paris – October 27th (more details here)
• Berlin – October 28th (more details here)
• London – November 2nd (more details here)

Gaming sessions include: Developing 2D games with Stage3D, Programming a 3D First-Person Shooter Game in Flash, and First steps with AIR Native Extensions for iOS and Android. For the more enterprise-centric amongst you there are sessions on: Flex and Flash Builder roadmaps, Deep-dive into Adobe AIR 3 for Enterprise developers, Flex for ninjas: the unknown of Flex.

So join me and fellow evangelists Tom Krcha, Michael Chaize, Piotr Walczyszyn, and Ben Forta for what is set to be an awesome set of events after Adobe MAX.

Entrance is free but there are fixed amount of places, so register quickly to avoid missing out on a place. They will be running a waiting list in case people who already have tickets have to cancel.

It’s being held at The Barbican, so it should be easy to get to if you’re coming from the West End, the City or Canary Wharf.

The schedule is as follows:

• 12:00 Registration Opens
• 13:00 Keynote | Michael Chaize
• 14:00 So many frameworks, so little time. | Richard Lord
• 14:45 Break
• 15:00 Which integration technology should I use on my Flex project? | Graeme Harker
• 15:30 Enterprising user experience design | Richard Marsh
• 16:00 Break
• 16:45 Building streaming media applications easily with OSMF | Jodie O’Rourke
• 17:30 Introduction to LCDS and LCCS | Michael Chaize
• 18:15 Break
• 18:30 TDD and CI with Flex – A whirlwind tour | Conrad Winchester
• 19:00 Prize Draw
• 19:30 – 22:30 Networking and nibbles!

You can read the full schedule and find out more here.

If you want to register straight away you can do that here.

Mobile apps are currently delivering high levels of usability / simplicity, partly because many websites are not optimised for mobile

(Lee Brimelow, panelist, Adobe Agency Debate)

With the advent of smartphone and tablet devices, the concept and adoption of the app as a digestible medium has become commonplace for most users – who uses the Twitter website on their iOS or Android device; after all, there’s ‘an app for that’. However, when it comes to digital agencies and providing value for their clients – be that from an economic, customer reach or a brand awareness perspective – does an app truly hit the spot or has it evolved solely because so few companies have a device optimised site able to distill down their common user requirements.

Web is still the most likely first port of call for engaging a new organisation, which means organisations need to continue to invest in mobile web not just apps, if users like the content / services on the website then they will download the app

(Audience, Adobe Agency Debate)

A Nielson study in the US found that 14% of US mobile subscribers had downloaded an app in the last 30 days. The most popular categories being games, news & weather, maps, music and social networking. Zokem (a mobile analytics company from Finland) noted that data traffic was split evenly between mobile web and native apps, however, mobile web had a slightly higher data usage time compared to native apps (54% vs 46%).

End-users have bought into apps as making the web simple and manageable, to a point where agencies are designing mobile websites to look like apps

(Dave Bedwood, panelist Adobe Agency Debate)

Interestingly, John Lewis are launching a mobile version of their site, not an app, on Monday 11th of October 2010. The reason for this – they want to see how their customers use the mobile site before deciding on whether or not they need an app. So perhaps the death of browsing has been over hyped and companies are now looking to leverage existing web technologies to provide a richer, more tailored experience for the mobile and device based on customers, rather than just immediately jumping to an app?

Beware the app trap, your apps are ultimately controlled by the owner of the platform they’re on

(Richard Leggett, panelist Adobe Agency Debate)

So with the scene set, sit back, relax and watch the highlights from the Flash on the Beach 2010 Adobe Agency Debate…

In a little over two weeks I’ll be speaking at Flash Camp Birmingham, this is the second Birmingham event I’ve spoken at and it’s a great city to hold this type of event. Hopefully the weather will be on our side, as it was last year. Like Flash Camp Manchester earlier this year there is a great line up of speakers.

My friend and colleague Mark Doherty will be there talking about mobile Flash and AIR on Android devices, and Niqui Merret will be talking about how to keep your head above water when it’s time to debug your code by explaining some core problem solving techniques. Steve Carpenter will be discussing Wowza media server and how developers who are familiar with FMS can develop collaborative solutions with Wowza and Flash Builder 4. Finally we have Seb Lee-Delisle finishing the day with more of his inspirational work.

The overall session shapes up as follows:

12:00 Registration
12:30 Keynote – Adobe
13:15 Break
13:30 Developing with your inner designer – Mike Jones (That’s me :p)
14:15 Break
14:30 Bugs, Gotta Catch ‘Em All – Niqui Merret
15:15 Break
15:30 TBC – James Whittaker
16:15 Break
17:00 WOWZA Media Server – Steve Carpenter
17:45 Break
18:00 Mobile Flash and AIR 2.5 for Android - Mark Doherty
18:45 Break
19:00 Sound & Light - Seb Lee-Delisle
19:45 Prize Draw
20:00 To the pub…

So don’t delay; register now and we’ll see you there.

If you are an AIR developer who has been looking for an easy way to reach millions of users and make money, join us for this joint Adobe – Intel event. Learn more about what Adobe and Intel are doing to help you distribute and monetize your AIR applications. We will talk about the business opportunity and how you can take advantage of the service immediately.

This is a late afternoon / evening event so you don’t have to take out time from your whole working day to attend. The event is free, but you do need to register. The agenda is as follows:

Agenda

• 4:45 PM – Registration Begins
• 5:00 PM – Beer & Pizza Served
• 5:30 PM – Flash Platform Services Overview (Adobe)
• 6:00 PM – Intel AppUp Center Business Model and Opportunity (Intel)
• 7:00 PM – Technical Deep Dive (Adobe)
• 8:30 PM – Staffed Open Lab (Adobe and Intel)

To register head over to the Adobe Intel Application lab event page on Adobe.com

I will be presenting a session entitled “Developing with your inner designer” where I’ll be looking at how you can harness Flash Professional CS5, Flash Catalyst and Flash Builder 4 to improve your designer / developer workflow. There will be some code, but for the first time in a very long time I’ll be focusing on the abilities of each of these products and where you can leverage their core strengths.

My friend and colleague Mark Doherty will be there talking about Flash and AIR on mobile and devices, Edwin van Rijkom will be giving an introduction to OSMF (the Open Source media Framework). Michael Plank from Powerflasher will also be there showing you how to improve your coding workflow with FDT. Anthony and Jeremy Ribot will be discussing the current state of mobile UX and Seb Lee-Delisle rounds the day out with a ‘space busting’ Papervision 3D session.

The overall session shapes up as follows:

12:00 Registration
13:00 Keynote
13:45 Break
14:00 Introducing the Open Source Media Framework – >Edwin van Rijkom 
14:45 Break
15:00 Developing with your inner designer – Mike Jones
15:45 Break
16:00 Set your code on fire – Michael Plank
16:45 Break
17:00 The current state of mobile UX – Anthony & Jeremy Ribot
17:45 Break
18:00 Mobile Flash and AIR 2 on mobile – Mark Doherty
18:45 Break
19:00 Space Invading – Seb Lee-Delisle
19:45 Prize Draw
20:00 To the pub…

So don’t delay register now and we’ll see you there. Plus if you’re around Friday morning Mark and myself will be holding a Flash Coffee event near Manchester Oxford Road railway station – sign up if you wish to attend as places are limited

So come along and join myself and Mark Doherty for the second of the UK Flash Coffee events. Places are limited so be sure to sign up straight away if you want to attend. We have various prizes to raffle off one at each event so register, turn up and you could be leaving with more than a double shot non-caff soya mocha latte :p.

• Flash Coffee Manchester – Friday 9th July (register here)

Keep an eye on http://bit.ly/flcoffee for more dates. not only in the UK, but across the rest of Europe.

These meetups are informal and small, taking place at various coffee shops in Europe as we travel around. Maybe you have some questions about your favourite tools, or want to see your applications running on Android devices? ?

So come along and join myself and Mark Doherty for the first of the UK Flash Coffee events, kicking it off in London next week. Places are limited so be sure to sign up straight away if you want to attend. We have various prizes to raffle off one at each event so register, turn up and you could be leaving with more than a double shot non-caff soya mocha latte :p.

• Flash Coffee London – Wednesday 23rd June ?(register here)

The current locations we have planned are detailed below, but if you’d like us to hold a Flash Coffee event near you let us know (put the location in your comments) and we’ll see what we can do :)

• Flash Coffee Brighton
• Flash Coffee Manchester – Friday 9th July (register here)
• Flash Coffee Birmingham

Keep an eye on http://bit.ly/flcoffee for more dates. not only in the UK, but across the rest of Europe?.