Adobe releases Apollo as AIR, SDK available

In addition to its new Flex 3 beta, Adobe has also released a beta version of Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), formerly code named Apollo. Adobe AIR is a cross-operating system application runtime that allows developers to use HTML/CSS, Ajax, Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex to extend rich Internet applications (RIAs) to the desktop. New features in the Adobe AIR beta include an embedded local database, PDF support, enhanced capabilities for JavaScript developers, and deeper integration with Adobe Flex. The beta version of Adobe AIR and the Adobe AIR Software Developer's Kit (SDK) can be downloaded for free.

Adobe AIR along with Adobe Flex (also available today) are part of Adobe's RIA platform, which enables developers and designers to create and deliver rich, dynamic, branded content and applications across all major operating systems. The open-source Adobe AIR features the WebKit HTML engine, the ActionScript Virtual Machine (Tamarin project) and SQLite local database functionality.

"Adobe AIR represents a new medium, as the best of the Web and the best of the desktop come together," said Kevin Lynch, senior vice president and chief software architect at Adobe. "Adobe AIR expands the universe of possibilities for Web developers who can now deliver a new generation of applications that work across operating systems and both inside and outside the browser, bridging the gap between the Web and the personal computer."

The new beta version of Adobe AIR allows developers to incorporate PDF by leveraging Adobe Reader 8.1 functionality. Users will be able to view and interact with PDF documents within Adobe AIR applications similarly to how they interact with a PDF in the browser today.

Other new capabilities include support for transparent HTML windows, drag and drop support, and complete access to Adobe AIR and Flash APIs. Developers building Adobe AIR applications can use the Ajax frameworks of their choice, and the latest version of WebKit incorporated into Adobe AIR beta provides more components than were previously available in Apollo alpha. Adobe said that the embedded, cross-platform, open-source SQLite local database was one of the most requested features from the Apollo alpha release. The database functionality requires no extra setup while providing large data capacity and full-text search, enabling Web developers who traditionally rely on a database for storage to easily build desktop applications without changing existing techniques.

The beta version of the Adobe AIR application runtime and the Adobe AIR SDK are available immediately as free downloads from Adobe Labs; both the Adobe AIR and the Adobe AIR SDK are available in English and offered for both Windows and Macintosh operating systems. The company said that future versions will be available for Linux as well as other languages.

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