Adobe announced the availability of Adobe AIR and Adobe Flex
3 software, furthering the Adobe technology platform for rich Internet
applications (RIAs). Developers and designers use Adobe RIA technologies to
create and deploy rich, branded content and applications. The release of Adobe
AIR signals the next wave of Adobe RIA innovation by bridging the capabilities
of the Web with the computing capabilities of the desktop. Businesses that
leverage the Web as a platform are now using the latest Adobe RIA technologies
to build and deploy more engaging applications with the widest reach across
browsers, desktops and operating systems.
“For 25 years, Adobe has delivered technology innovation for
our customers, beginning with desktop publishing and extending to multimedia
and the Web,” said Kevin Lynch, chief technology officer at Adobe. “Now, we
continue to advance the future of digital experiences by enabling our customers
to create highly interactive, expressive applications. This is an exciting time
for Adobe, for innovation in software, and for designers and developers who are
driving the Web forward.”
Companies Embrace Adobe RIA Technologies
Companies across industries such as entertainment, finance,
media, retail and social networking are embracing Adobe RIA technologies.
Deutsche Bank, The Nasdaq Stock Market and The New York Times Company, among
others, use the Adobe technology platform for RIAs to help ensure customer
interactions are engaging and effective.
“Adobe has been focused on improving the Web experience and
delivering the underlying technologies to produce more interactive and
expressive Web sites and applications, and the Adobe technology platform for
RIAs hits right at a key need companies have today,” said Al Hilwa, Program
Director at IDC. “The ROI of RIAs is real. A more engaging product
visualization experience in eCommerce applications for example, helps customers
understand what they are buying, which leads to less online abandonment and
increased average order size through cross-sell and up-sell visualization.”
Adobe is also delivering new applications built with Adobe
Flex and deployed on Adobe AIR, such as Adobe Media Player, now in beta
release, which is a fusion of TV and the Internet that allows users to watch
their favorite shows anytime and anywhere, as well as Buzzword, an elegant
online word processor that has built-in collaboration capabilities.
Adobe Technology Platform for RIAs
Adobe AIR, Adobe Flex and Adobe Flash Player software are
the foundation of the Adobe technology platform for RIAs. Adobe RIA
technologies include tools, frameworks, servers, services and runtimes that
work together, enabling the creation of experiences with the greatest reach.
Adobe AIR enables developers to create RIAs on the desktop
using the skills and Web technologies — such as HTML, Ajax, PDF, Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex — they
already employ. Applications deployed on Adobe AIR have the advantages of
browser-based RIAs, such as speed of development, ease of use and access from
anywhere. Yet they also have the benefits of desktop applications, such as the
ability to read/write local files, work with other applications on a user’s
computer and maintain local data storage on the desktop.
Flex is a free, open source framework for building
interactive, expressive RIAs. Adobe Flex Builder 3, an Eclipse based development
tool, accelerates Flex application development and includes new capabilities
for deploying RIAs on Adobe AIR. Adobe Flex Builder 3 integrates with Adobe
Creative Suite 3 software making it easy for designers and developers to work
together. New testing tools, including memory and performance profilers and
integrated support for automated functional testing, speed up development and
lead to higher performing RIAs.
Adobe Flash Player, which reaches over 98 percent of Internet-enabled
PCs and hundreds of millions of mobile and set-top devices, delivers
unparalleled creative options, highly engaging user experiences, stunning
audio/video playback, and virtually universal reach.
Major portions of Adobe AIR, such as the WebKit HTML engine,
Tamarin ActionScript Virtual Machine, and SQLite local database functionality,
are open source. Adobe is committed to contributing to the open source
community on multiple fronts, including the release of the free open source
Flex framework and open source BlazeDS for high-speed data connectivity, as
well as active membership in the SQLite Consortium. Visit opensource.adobe.com for
more information.
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