Add Some Zinc To Your Software: MDM Zinc For Pocket PC 2 Reviewed [Archive]

Jon Westfall

07-12-2006, 04:00 PM

<img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/westfall-zincreview-splash.png" /> Product Category: Developer Software Manufacturer: <a href="http://www.multidmedia.com">Multidmedia Ltd. (MDM) </a> Where to Buy: Try to find the product on Amazon (affiliate link) Price: $299.99 / $549.99 USD. Trial available. System Requirements: Pentium 2 350mhz or higher; 128mb RAM or higher; Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP Compatible with Macromedia Flash 4, 5, MX & MX2004 Pros:<li>Extremely rapid deployment of flash projectors; <li>Extensive customization features; <li>SQLCE, encryption, and script supportCons:<li>Performance issues; <li>Price, for some; <li>UI could use some streamlining.Summary: The allure of flash animation has always been to extend it beyond cute web graphics into something truly useful. After all, compiling an SWF is a bit like compiling a program that will run on any system, as flash viewers are available for all (including Pocket PC). But while setting up a flash projector for a full sized system can be fairly simple, Pocket PCs have always posed a challenge, until now. MDM's Zinc makes the chore of creating a Pocket PC Flash App a joy and while it is very capable, there are a few points worth considering before purchasing. Come Explore Zinc and imagine the Flash possibilities, Read On...<!> <PAGEBREAK> In The Beginning, There Was Flash No one could have predicted back in 1996 when Macromedia first released Flash the unique history this 10 year old product would write. Originally most prevalent in animations and interactive areas of websites, Flash evolved into something attempted but rarely achieved in computing: a compiled program that could be run on a variety of operating systems, nearly seamlessly, due to an ultra-optimized flash player application available for download. A few years back, Macromedia released a flash player for Pocket PC, which was freely downloadable to users, then decided to make it <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=43423">ridiculously expensive</a>, and then made <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=43593"> free again</a> after the outcry. But the flash player for the PPC wasn't all users thought - it did the back-end job all right but had no UI to load a movie (other than a properly formatted web page in PIE). Therefore, numerous applications (Such as those in <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=48436">Menneisyys's Roundup</a>) were developed to make the plug-in a bit friendlier to users. Flash content seemed to be safe for users to download, configure, and run themselves, given the right tools, but it was still off-limits for developers without some serious devotion given to coding a front-end for a flash animation. Worse yet, developers who had written something uber-cool in Flash were forced to learn a bit about programming in Windows Mobile to get their animations on the small screen. MDM Zinc was written for this audience - the programmer who simply wants a fast and effective way to distribute his flash animation / application to a Pocket PC without the hassle of re-inventing the wheel. If it's flash, Zinc can package it up and deliver it to a waiting Pocket PC, all with a few clicks and almost zero dirty work. Enter Zinc Zinc is a pretty unassuming application that packs a pretty good punch. To test the power of Zinc, I made up a quick flash animation, dubbed The Magic Thoughtsball (Check it out <a href="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/tball.html">here</a> and use it for your next technology purchase debate). The Thoughtsball was simple, with no consideration made that it would eventually become a PPC Application (as you can tell by the figure below!). It did, however, have some beefy animation and text transformations that I figured would put my K-JAM's processor through the paces when testing. To get the screenshot below, all I did was double click on the SWF file on my desktop, and it was loaded into Zinc. I wasn't too pleased that it made itself the default application for SWFs, but that's obviously not a big deal to most. <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/westfall-zincreview-screenshot1.png" /> Figure 1: The main UI in Zinc. Notice the tabs in the upper right, clicking on them takes you to those settings. Alternatively you can click on the icons at the upper right to take you to the appropriate tab. Loading my SWF into Zinc, I immediately could see that I'd have a scrunched up text issue if I went ahead with my program as is, thanks to the preview window. Since it was just a test, I decided to leave it as it was. You'll notice that the Input File tab has options for the output (an odd thing for an input tab, but whatever) including an encryption option and the option to bundle SQLCE support. Zinc provides example files on its website showing off SQLCE functionality, but suffice it to say, your flash apps can have access to a nice database backend if you so desire. Lastly, you'll see that the Build button is immediately available. If you didn't care about customizing, you could build now and a nice CAB would be made for you, ready for device installation. But customizing is fun, and what better way to learn of the features of Zinc? <PAGEBREAK> Features, Simple & More It seems that if you want to customize the way your application runs in Zinc, you can do so with virtually endless possibilities. The dialog below allows you to specify application properties, such as forcing the device to show the application full screen and give it a custom icon in the Programs menu. One typical use for Flash is to give interactive demo content on the web, or to deliver a product catalog. Obviously marketing managers may know enough about flash to make it pretty, and Zinc would give them the power to deploy their work to a new audience - the mobile user. I can also see a great way for device manufacturers to build a "demo" mode into their devices - simply by shipping a pre-made full-screen projector that could display the device's features by itself. This would both secure the device from vandals, and increase visibility in display models. As a plus, the same "demo" could be put on a the corporate website with no difficulty <img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/westfall-zincreview-screenshot2.png.jpg" /> Figure 2: Right down to the icon & position customizations! Zinc also offers scripting abilities, allowing users to customize their applications from within Flash by using {mdm}Script. While devoted flash programmers know the code they need to implement message boxes and other UI elements, {mdm}Script is compatible with MDM's Zinc products for other operating systems, so the program you develop for the Pocket PC and ship with Zinc for the Pocket PC will work the same if you ship it with Zinc for Mac OS, for example. <img src=http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/westfall-zincreview-screenshot3.jpg> Figure 3: Zinc File Packing Dialog. Another neat feature Zinc offers is the ability to bundle multiple files along with your application, making it easy to deploy files your application depends on as well as resources or even other "helper" applications. It's nice to have the ability to add the files in here, especially because Zinc will output a CAB file or ActiveSync installer directly, without this feature, additional files could become a headache for developers. <PAGEBREAK> ActiveSync Installers Another jewel in Zinc's crown is the ability to create a professional Activesync installer instead of merely a CAB file. <img src=http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/westfall-zincreview-screenshot4.png> Figure 4: The options dialog allows you to customize the look and feel of your desktop installer. Zinc allows you to add in a custom splash screen, your own EULA, and the Compact Framework and Media Player control. Curiously, you'll see that the flash player is grayed out, for reasons we'll discuss in a moment. After configuring, the output .exe is created and is suitable for posting to a website or wherever you may wish to distribute it. But what about this option for the "flash player"? Well, our buddies at Adobe are who we can look to about that. The flash player we all know and love (and that we complained bitterly about when it was taken away) is required for your Zinc application to run. Unfortunately, due to Adobe's EULA on flash player, MDM can't bundle it with Zinc. I had to download it to my device to run my application, a minor inconvenience to me, but something that could be a deal breaker for an end user. Unfortunately there isn't much we can do aside from provide instructions for End users on downloading and installing the flash plugin prior to installing our app, or to purchase a license from Adobe to distribute the flash plugin. The only positive point is that, once installed, the flash player is available to any Zinc projector you may wish to deploy to the device. <PAGEBREAK> Drawbacks & Limitations Ah, nothing can ever be perfect, and while I've been very happy with the user experience with Zinc, there are a few drawbacks. First, we should note that, up front, MDM admits that there may be performance issues. The following comes from the excellent <a href="http://www.multidmedia.com/support/learning/docs/?prod=zincppc">Online Manual</a> for Zinc: "In addition, please bare in mind that a Pocket PC is just that... a Pocket PC! The PDA Device does not have the capabilities of a full desktop PC System which means that performance of heavily animated SWF's will be poor when compared to their desktop counterparts. Wherever possible, the inclusion of animation should be optimized as much as possible for Pocket PC Application Development." Even being warned, I was still a bit disappointed at the performance of the Thoughtsball on my K-JAM. The device loaded the file in a reasonable amount of time, yet the animation from off-screen to on-screen and then the shake took a good amount of time (10-15 seconds for animation that should take around 3-4). Animation aside, I would imagine that performance would not be so dramatic an issue on a app that was made for input or a utility - but gaming may be a problem unless you're really willing to streamline your application and optimize for performance. It is also hard to pinpoint where the slowness in my tests was due to Zinc, due to my SWF, and due to my K-JAM's processor. The final verdict on performance? Test, test, and test some more before you roll out to end users, or be prepared for "It's so slow" comments. I suspect this is the case with all flash-on-Pocket PC situations. Another limitation to some may be the price for the full version, although MDM has released a lite edition that lacks SQLCE support, encryption, and contains only a handful of {mdm}Script commands. But for those of you who just need a projector without the extra options, the lite version may be right up your alley. Lastly, and this is really picky of me, the interface could use a bit more polishing. By polishing, I don't mean fade-in and fade-out menus or anything like that, but perhaps a bit more depth to the UI. The tab interface is nice, however, not all the tabs are visible all the time, and the buttons are not as explanatory as they could be. Like I said, it's picky, but it does make an impression on the user, and I think cleaning up the interface a bit may make a better impression. Conclusions In short, if you want to develop Flash applications for the Pocket PC, you will want to check out Zinc. I was blown away by the feature set, the incredibly easy configuration process, and the ability to customize my application as much or as little as I desired. While the price tag is a bit high, it is in line with other developer applications out there. I also found MDM's website and MDM's staff to be extremely helpful during the review process. Overall, I'd recommend using Zinc to package flash applications, with only a small list of changes I'd like to see in future releases. Jon Westfall doesn't know if anyone actually reads these "about the author" blurbs at the ends of articles. If you're really interested in my work, check out my nearly-daily posts here at PPCT and my somewhat frequently updated blog at <a href="http://www.jonwestfall.com"> jonwestfall.com</a>.