Verizon recently launched an awesome new Flex based online store for selling ringtones. The Verizon Media Store allows users to easily browse available ringtones and "ringback" tones, and to purchase them for Verizon mobile devices. Prices appear to range from $1.99 to $2.99, depending on the song, with some "Jukebox" items available for $6.99. (A Jukebox appears to be a bundle of ringtones or ringback tones.)

The store is well done - a great example of using Flex to build a compelling user experience.

From Ted Patrick.

Wix is an online Flex based application that allows you to easily create Flash content, without having to use Adobe's Flash tool. Your content created in Wix can be shared online in your Facebook page, website, blog etc... The site was recently featured on TechCrunch, and is similar to Sprout.

Wix has created a number of pre-built widgets for regular people, without Flash skills (like me!), to use. You can easily integrate photos from Flickr, and video from YouTube, or create entire Flash based websites using templates that they've created.

They've given RIAPedia readers 300 accounts into their closed beta. Register today using this URL if you'd like to check it out.

I just received word from the team at New Toronto Group that next week's Flex Camp Toronto event is nearly sold out - just a few seats remaining. If you're in the area and were thinking about attending, you should definitely register now. I'll be speaking at the event, giving a presentation on how to promote your Flex applications. Ben Forta will also be attending and presenting, along with a few community members. This is definitely an event you don't want to miss if you're in Toronto. The event starts at 6:00 PM next Thursday, May 15th. Register now so you don't miss out.

(Updated: Time changed from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. 6:00 PM ET is the right start time, sorry for the confusion.)

ComputerWorld has an interesting article titled 6 factors that will decide the fate of Silverlight. The 6 factors are: Microsoft's technology on the web, the enduring appeal of Flash development, wider cross platform support, interest beyond traditional developers, AJAX et al, and co-existence in the market.

The writer obviously did a lot of research in putting that article together, since he's got quotes from a number of top people, including Jesse Warden, a long time Flash developer, Greg deMichillie, an analyst from Directions on Microsoft, and Michael Cote from Redmonk.

Obviously Flex has the lead right now for RIA development. The article says that its "hugely popular", and Silverlight has "yet to take off". Jesse gives some quotes about Flash and Flex development, saying "there is more money in it", and that most of the work for Silverlight "is because the company is a Microsoft partner."

Adobe and a number of industry leaders have announced a new initiative called the "Open Screen Project" that completely changes the game for RIA developers, and sets the stage for RIAs on mobile devices. The Open Screen Project removes restrictions on the SWF and FLV specifications - now anyone can create their own player or tools to create SWF content, similar to how PDF is. Adobe is also publishing the device porting layer APIs for Flash Player, so that anyone can create their own Flash Player for platforms that aren't currently supported, especially useful for mobile devices.

Mobile development will also get a boost by the removal of license fees for distributing the Flash Player and Adobe AIR for devices. Handset manufacturers will not need to pay Adobe to install the Flash Player on their devices. Adobe hopes that this will result in 1 billion phones having the mobile version of Flash (currently FlashLite) installed on them.

There's a lot of coverage of this online this morning. Slashdot has the story, which always has interesting views from the open source community. CNET, Ryan Stewart and the Washington Post have it from a news angle. TechCrunch has the story as well, with some very supportive comments from readers.

The Flex equivalent of Microsoft Office or Google docs is pretty much complete - there's Buzzword for documents, SlideRocket for presentations, and now idubee for online spreadsheets.

idubee has support for formulas, keyboard navigation much as you'd expect from a real office program.

Unfortunately for now the application is simply a personal R & D project with no plans on making it a commercial offering.

Too bad, because this looks like it has some potential.

You can register for your free account, but be warned: this application has the strangest user agreement I've ever seen.

Adobe and photos go hand in hand. We make the leading editing application, and Lightroom is a must have for any serious digital photographer. With Flex, developers have created some great web based photo editing tools, like Picnik and Adobe Photoshop Express. So it should come as no surprise that Albelli has created an AIR based photo book application, much like you can do with iPhoto on the Mac.

I'm a big fan of iPhoto books - I've ordered a few of them over the years for big trips and big events. Albelli's solution isn't as polished as Apple's, but its a good start. It has integration with all the major photo sharing sites, like Photobucket, Flickr, Picasa, and SmugMug, or you can drag and drop photos from your desktop into the application.

Once the photos have been selected, you can drag and drop them onto pages of your book, customizing the book with a theme, number of photos on the page and the number of pages in the book. The ordering process is done inside the application, and the costs are reasonable.

I don't know about the quality of the books, as I haven't ordered any, but I think applications like this have a lot of potential - users are willing to pay for physical products, and I love the integration with existing photo sharing sites.

As many people know, I'm a big fan of Drupal, and I'm a huge fan of Flex, so when those two things come together, I'm super happy. Chris Charlton sent me a link to a new Flex Image Module for Drupal that uses a Flex interface to search for pictures on your hard drive, allows uploading via drag and drop, and incorporates a Google search for images.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to buy the module or get access to it to test it out. The download page asks me to login or register to download, but I can't login because I'm not registered, and I can't seem to register at all.

[From Flex Image Module | CMS Website Services | Drupal Website Design and Development Firm]

Timetoast is an online timeline application that allows users to easily create and share timelines online. The application is built with Flex and Ruby on Rails.

For example, here's a timeline that was created about NASA's space program:

Dilbert has gone all Web 2.0. Dilbert.com has relaunched with a new interface, and new features. Dilbert.com now allows users to rate, share, embed Dilbert into their own sites and blogs, has an RSS feed that allows you to read the latest Dilbert from your favourite RSS reader.

The site also includes a new Flash application that allows users to add their own endings to Dilbert strips, in a feature they're calling Mashups. Eventually users will be able to add their own text to the entire Dilbert strip, though for now its limited to just the final frame of the comic.

Animated Dilbert comic strips are also available.

Via News.com.