Ikivo AB has updated its mobile content authoring software for scalable vector graphics (SVG). Animator 1.1 includes opacity and gradient support, and extensive preview profiles, and can be used to develop content and user interfaces for mobile Linux devices, the company says.

(Click here for an animated set of screen shots)

Like Flash, a vector graphics technology from Macromedia, SVG can be used to create user interfaces for mobile devices — an area where Flash is seeing growing adoption. However, unlike Flash, SVG is a completely open standard, freeing browser makers to implement it as a core technology, which in turn frees users from the onus of installing plugins. The newest Firefox and Opera browsers support SVG, while support for SVG is also increasingly mandated by 3G phone industry consortium 3GPP, according to an April feature in Publish magazine, which said that smartphones are likely to finally drive the five-year-old Web standard into proliferation.

Ikivo says developers must first use vector graphics tools such as Adobe Illustrator CS and Adobe GoLive CS to create vector graphics, which are then converted to SVG format in Animator. Typical applications for mobile phones might include infotainment and financial services content, news feeds, maps and location-aware services, and games, the company says.

Ikivo says its Animator product enables designers to move, scale, rotate, and change the attributes of SVG content over time, as well as to embed interactivity. While developing content, the designer is able to preview the results for selected target devices.

Animator is based on the Mobile SVG standard developed by the World Wide Web (W3) Consortium. The standard defines an “SVG Tiny” profile for smartphone devices, as well as an “SVG Basic” profile for PDAs. Animator appears to support only SVG Tiny, for now.

SVG Player

SVG Tiny content created with Animator can be played using Ikivo's SVG Player software, which is distributed as ANSI C source code that targets Linux, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and proprietary real-time OSes. Ikivo describes the Player as compact, efficient, and flexible, and says it supports sending, receiving, and viewing SVG content.

Animator availability

Animator supports Windows and Macintosh, and is available immediately through the company's online store and Adobe's online store, priced at $349. A free 15-day trial version is also available for download from Ikivo's website.

 
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