123Box.Net—Harnessing the power of Flash!
With subscriber levels rising above a staggering 40 million, the rapid growth of free services such as Microsoft Hotmail has clearly shown that web-based email has become one of the most important Internet innovations to date.
Pushing web-based email a step further with 123Box
Produced by Magic Web Solutions, 123Box represents an exciting move forward in the design and development of free web-mail services. Harnessing the power of Macromedia Flash it is a simple, easy to use application. Accessible anywhere in the word, anytime of the day or night it provides users with a more intuitive and engaging means of handling their email communications.
Flash... not just animation software
The interfaces for the majority of today?s web-based mail services are developed using a mixture of HTML and scripting languages such as DHTML and JavaScript. Although these technologies work there are many limitations associated with their use. Even with complex client-side coding the user experience is often static and restricted as the ability to interact and engage with the application is impossible to achieve without multiple page requests. All of which take time and patience as well as having a negative impact by appearing clumsy and slow.
As a design tool, Flash has proven itself to be extremely useful, however the benefits that it can provide do not stop there. Using Flash to develop a web-based email service opens up a whole new set of advanced user interface capabilities.
Taking a closer look at 123Box
Once loaded 123Box works with unprecedented speed as the shockwave file is stored in cache. 123Box therefore needs only to transmit data, not graphical content as well. This allows the user to manipulate the application in the way that they want without having to endure multiple server requests.
123Box performs noticeably faster and more smoothly than its HTML counterparts, offering all the key features andmore.
In appearance the application closely resembles familiar Windows applications, displaying similar GUI interface elements such as ?drag and drop? functionality, pop-up windows, virtual toolbars and ToolTips.
All of which are fused together with the unique design and interactivity that only Flash can provide.
Compose, edit and send emails in an instant!
From creating and managing folders, users can compose and send emails with minimal fuss. Unlike standard HTML based web-mail services 123Box ensures that the user is not left waiting for the application to respond to his/her last request, but reacts immediately. The process therefore for adding attachments, creating new folders, adding new entries to the address book is streamlined and does not require the browser to load multiple pages.
In terms of functionality 123Box is feature rich. The user is given all the options he or she needs to write clear and accurate emails.
The power and flexibility behind Flash is clearly demonstrated through the incorporation of an intelligent spell checker to ensure that emails are correct every time (see left)
Again this reflects the similarity 123Box shares with typical Windows based applications like Word and Outlook and is therefore highly intuitive for people to use.
Furthermore instant access to a range of menu options is provided through a virtual task bar (see below), allowing users to change settings and preferences, access online help or view the amount of storage space they have available without having to be temporarily re-directed away from the email that they have just composed. As with many of the other features described this improves speed and performance, as users are not left waiting and watching a page slowly re-load itself.
The 123Box skin
The 123Box application performs well both on its own and in conjunction with an existing HTML version. Furthermore, 123Box web-mail is highly portable, providing the same look and feel across a range of environments, avoiding the time consuming problems that HTML based interfaces encounter with browser incompatibilities.
The Flash interface shown here can be rapidly integrated within any web-mail service.
Connection with an underlying data source is achieved quickly allowing existing web-based mail providers to integrate it easily within their current infrastructure. At the same time the interface can be modified to incorporate a variety of styles as Flash provides access to a wide range of fonts and colour choices, giving more control over layout and appearance.
Conclusion
Within an increasingly competitive market place 123Box represents a dynamic alternative that is guaranteed to attract new users, providing a more visually engaging and easy to use means of communicating.
With the arrival of Studio MX from Macromedia, Flash is steadily becoming recognised as a powerful tool in the field of application development. Applications such as 123Box clearly demonstrate this.