U3 developers blog

Sphinx Software, creator of the popular Desktop Assistant and Mobile Web Server, has released a new service to help other developers embrace the U3 platform. Sphinx Software’s Portable Application Conversion Technology converts existing application to the U3 platform on-the-fly. The technology does not require any modification of the original source code; all the original binaries and so all the developer’s efforts are carefully saved and transferred to U3 smart drive incarnation of the same application.

For more details, check out Sphinx Software’s website.

Did you hear about the bachelor who was given a toilet brush from some friends who quite frankly were getting uncomfortable coming over to his place? A couple of days later, one of his buds asks him if he likes the toilet brush or not. He replies “Oh, sure. It does a good job but I still prefer toilet paper”

Yikes! You really need to use the tool that is most appropriate for the job to be done and using a toilet brush to clean yourself, while it’s possible to get the job done, may exact a measure of pain that the overall benefit doesn’t justify. What in the blazes do toilet brushes and toilet paper have to do with U3 development? Well, I’ll tell ya!

There are two new platforms that have been released for U3 smart drives that provide developers with ways to easily create completely mobile and out of the box U3 compliant applications: Yahoo Widgets and Runtime Revolution. In the case of Yahoo Widgets, the widgets them selves aren’t even wrapped in the U3 package file format. You can download a gazillion of them from the Widget Gallery once you have the U3 smart version installed on your U3 smart drive.

With the Runtime Revolution Studio IDE, you can create fully functional applications and have the IDE generate the U3P file for you. The resulting RunRev application will shutdown and cleanup in accordance with U3 certification criteria. Check out the Ten Thumbs Typing Tutor U3 smart application for an example of what you can do with the RunRev development environment. There aren’t many limitations with the RunRev IDE and U3 certification is a practically guaranteed once your app is ready to go.

If you are thinking of developing a new little utility or a full blown app, be sure to check out the Yahoo Widgets and RunRev developer resources so you don’t wind up using a tool that creates more pain than benefit.

Greetings from the Big Apple and the floor of the Digital Life trade show. Silly me. I thought that I would come with the rest of the team to the Digital Life trade show, talk to a few developers here and there, wrap up the documentation for the certification test suite that we’ll be making available soon, and generally take it easy while the marketing and biz dev folks worked the booth. Think that’s what happened? Oh no… The U3 booth has been “the” place to be every time David Stahl gets on the tiny stage (picture him standing on a barrel) and starts talking to folks about U3 smart drives.  It’s all hands on deck! Since this is the blog for developers and other more technically orientated folks, here’s a mental exercise for you. Figure out how 250+ people gather to listen to David and Nathan and Claudio talk about and demo U3 drives when the booth footprint is only 20 feet by 30 feet. It’s possible.

Check out Nathan’s blog for some pics. It has been ill! I learned the “ill” expression from a young gentlemen here and I’m pretty sure that it means cool - or that the fridge broke and the mayonnaise in the sandwiches went bad in the food court. At any rate, the vibe here is so energizing and people were leaving each show buzzing with many returning for subsequent shows.

So what does this have to do with developer’s? If you are on the fence about whether it’s worthwhile to mobilize your app and get it U3 certified, it’s probably a good time to jump because the ease of use and password protection provided by the U3 Launchpad are really appealing to people. I know that U3 isn’t for everybody but there appear to be a lot of folks that do think U3 can make their life a lot easier. In short, there are going to be a lot of U3 smart drives being used and from what I can gather at this show, we are on the cusp of a dramatic increase in that number. This is a great time to get your application visible in the U3 Software Central Store.

PS: Just a few minutes ago, a guy jumped on on the Kingston demo pc here, started up the host machine’s Internet Explorer, logged into Ebay, issued a bid, and then logged out. When I showed him that he could have done all of that on a U3 smart drive using Portable Firefox and had his browsing history and data protected behind the password protection feature, we had another person seriously thinking about the ways the U3 platform makes his life better.

That’s right. I was in Best Buy yesterday when the Geek Squad dudes placed the 4GB SanDisk Cruzer Micro boxes on the shelf.  It was marked at $206 with a $107 instant in-store rebate bringing the price down to $99. 

Don’t bother shopping in the Best Buy in Redwood City off Route 101 because I bought all they had on the shelf (unless they restocked).  Sorry.  I could not resist.