Adobe Releases AIR - Formerly Apollo
Adobe has just announced the release of Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), the project formerly codenamed Apollo. I normally don’t get excited about new software development kit releases, but this is an exception.
AIR promises the ability to take Web 2.0 to the desktop (maybe that’s web 3.0). One of the really fantastic things about AIR is that it allows developers to create applications that run exactly the same way on Mac and PC - HooRah.
AIR allows developers to combine Flex, Flash, HTML, PDF, and JavaScript into a working desktop application. AIR applications uses a small runtime - like the Flash Player that users have to download. Normally this would be a pain, but Adobe is really good at this. Over 90% of computers attached toe the Internet are Flash capable - it’s truly a universal platform.
Some of the sample applications are very cool. How about a desktop mashup that lets you plot vcards on your system on google maps. Another app gives you desktop widgets that let you see weather, email, Flickr photos, YouTube videos etc.
My prediction, given the robust applications already developed, is that this is a platform that’s going places. Developers are already looking for ways to combine information in very useful ways.
I think you’ll start to see some pretty heavy-hitters, like Ebay and Amazon, putting together their own apps. However, the magic comes when real users build their own apps on top of Web Services.
June 12th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
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