(via John Nack) - Good news: the new Flash Player 10.2 (download the beta) offers a new, video-playback-optimized mode called Stage Video which uses the GPU acceleration added earlier this year.
Stage Video requires Flash developers to update the code in video players, so simply updating to the new player won’t automatically improve CPU usage on all sites, but YouTube has already updates its player & others will follow. If you’re a Flash developer and want to start experimenting, check out this tutorial from Lee Brimelow.
Take a look at the video demo here.
A new usability article is available on Forum Nokia: Overcoming Mobile Web Usability Challenges. Consultants Nielsen Norman Group studied the usability of the mobile web, and they found it much worse than PC usability. One of the biggest reasons is speed, writes Raluca Budiu, a usability specialist with Nielsen Norman Group.
One of the biggest reasons that users perform poorly on mobile devices is speed. Even people with fast smartphones are bound to encounter situations where their device is just too slow. This can be because the cellular network is too crowded, or because network coverage is poor in a given location. Wireless networks are still far from being ubiquitous, and users mostly rely on a cellular network signal to access the internet on their mobile phone. [...]
Here it is, another great video tutorial from Dale added to the Developing with Flash Lite series: Performance Optimization Checklist for Flash Lite. Enjoy.
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