FT.com | Tech Blog | Adobe Air breaths life into new desktop applications

Adobe Air breaths life into new desktop applications

January 30, 2008 10:53pm
by Paul Taylor

Palm Desert, California: Exactly one year ago at the DEMO 2007 technology conference, Adobe showcased Adobe AIR (then code-named ‘Apollo.’)

While many software developers have been focused in recent years on ways to move desktop applications onto the Web, Adobe Air makes it possible to move internet applications to the desktop.

Technically speaking, Adobe Air is a cross-operating system application runtime that enables web developers to use their existing web development skills in HTML, AJAX, Flash and Flex to build and deploy rich Internet applications for the desktop.

At Demo 2008 now underway in Desert Springs, California the first batch of applications based on Adobe Air are being unveiled.

They include:

Acesis which is using Adobe AIR and Adobe Flex to create point-of-care applications for its target market of small medical practices with up to 10 doctors. The company’s physician information system provides two interfaces – an AIR-based interface for physicians designed to replace pen and paper, and a browser-based interface for patients.

Fabrik’s next generation online service, Joggle, uses Adobe AIR to provide a single, aggregated view of a user’s personal content, no matter where it resides. Joggle finds and catalogues digital content whether it is stored locally or remotely on a web-based server and makes it easy for people to find, mange, access and share their photos, music, videos, and files.

2Win Solutions’ KonoLive is instant collaboration software that aims to make it easier to collaborate with colleagues and share knowledge. The service uses Adobe AIR and Flex to facilitate instant and uninterrupted collaboration across a wide range of systems.

Among the advantages, Fabrik’s CEO Mike Cordano claimed using Adobe Air had enabled the company to build a desktop application without forcing the company to hire a new team of desktop developers.

January 30, 2008 10:53pm in Software | Comment

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Comment by editor
Are impression stats from mobile ad networks such a good indicator of handset market share? As impression stats vary with a network’s business model, a different network – say Millennial Media – would tell a different story about handset market share. No one has really noticed the discrepancy though because AdMob is the only network that pushes handset data into the media month after month. The silly thing is that when you see what some of these networks can do in terms of targeting, you realize there must be much more useful stats about behaviour of mobile users for example or types of mobile advertising that work best – (unlike handset sales data, you can’t easily get that sort of thing from Gartner, IDC et al). Don’t you think that would make these monthly reports much more interesting? To get a flavour of what mobile ad networks know about mobile users, see what they offer in terms of targeting: http://www.mobithinking.com/mobile-ad-network-guide
Comment by Mario Gamboa-Cavazos
How long until you move to OS X?
Comment by timothy spear
I feel your pain. I did mine as a dual boot (from xp) which I guess might be a safer option? Took ages to sort the email though
Comment by Michael Kenward
This is similar to my own experience. Two attempts to "upgrade" have so far proved fruitless. Vista to Windows 7 on my new(ish) laptop never got to a stage where the things would work and get the latest updates. An XP to Windows 7 update has been a week in the making. The goal is to create a dual-boot configuration. Supposedly an easy job, I am still trying to get it to work. Even when Windows 7 t does manage to boot up, a minute or so into a session I get the dreaded "BSOD". Fortuntely, neither of these are my key PCs. And I created a complete backup of the laptop before diving in. I quickly went back to Vista on that. So much for the promise that moving to Windows 7 is easier than any earlier Windows upgrade.
Comment by ciaran.byrne
You appear remarkably sanguine about the whole saga. I would be incandescent with rage. Why the almost seraphic stoicism?

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Adobe Air breaths life into new desktop applications

January 30, 2008 10:53pm
by Paul Taylor

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January 30, 2008 10:53pmby Paul Taylor

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January 30, 2008 10:53pm
by Paul Taylor