This tool was first demo-ed at Adobe Max 2010 developer conference in October last year. The cross-platform AIR app is available for free download as a technology preview for developers.
Wallaby allows Flash developers to deployFlash content on Apple iOS devices like iPads and iPhones, which has banned Flash on Steve Jobs’ accusations that it is vulnerable to exploits, battery draining, and prone to frequent crashes.
FLA files from Flash can be instantly converted to HTML5 by a simple drag-and-drop. The HTML can then be edited in Dreamweaver or any HTML authoring tool.
Tom Barclay, senior product manager for Flash pointed out that not all elements from Flash files will make it into HTML5. Although the overall look and feel can be ported, much will be discarded in the migration.
The Wallaby Release Notes describe what features are supported, what differences we have already discovered between the various browsers, what device variations have been found, and any currently known issues.
What is thrashed: audio, video, ActionScript, as well as blend modes and filters (apart from simple alpha), dynamic masks, some Text Layout Framework text, and 3D tweens and transforms.
What is supported: vector art and images, classic text, keyframes, MovieClips and graphics, classic motion and shape tweens, rollover buttons, and instance names.
Immediate application of the tool would mainly be for making basic banner ads and animations, especially if the FLA files have already been developed.
Apple had released iAd Producer in December last year. It is a free tool “for online advertisers to create content for Apple’s iAd platform, helping the company to establish HTML5 as a viable alternative to Adobe Flash technology on mobile devices,” wrote Daniel Ionescu of PCWorld.
iAd Producer is a visual HTML5 authoring tool, available to Apple developers for producing advertisements for iOS devices, using a combination of HTML5, Javascript and CSS3.
