We’ll say it right off the bat: there’s a good chance you have a recent version of Adobe Reader installed on your computer, so that probably means you’ve also installed Adobe AIR, the company’s cross-platform runtime environment for RIAs, as well as the Acrobat.com application. You may not even be aware those came bundled, but you still have the option to uninstall both and still keep Adobe Reader. Glad we got that out of the way.
On to the news: by means of a blog post, Adobe Systems has just confirmed the number of installs for Adobe AIR that had been floating around the Web ever since CTO Kevin Lynch mentioned something along those lines at the recent Flash Camp Keynote in San Francisco: 200 million, double the amount the company touted at the end of January 2009. The number was reached a little over two weeks ago, about 16 months after its debut on the market.
Whether you’re aware that you’ve installed Adobe AIR at some point or not, or whether you think the 200 million installs is actually on the low rather than the high side (I think the number is fairly moderate), there are some really good applications out there that you don’t know yet but might want to check out:
Allows users to upload music, videos, and photos to imeem. This app will automatically discover all your iTunes playlists and enable you to easily zip them over to your imeem profile. You can also drag and drop your desired tracks for upload to imeem, create custom playlists and share your music with others.
An elegant search tool for Flickr, which utilizes several methods of its public API. Flair matches search queries by tags and makes it easy to jump to the original resolution upload (often easily wallpaper quality) and the source photographers photostream (by clicking their user icon).
An intuitive and extensive desktop app for mind-mapping purposes, tied to web app Comapping.com. Use it to manage and share information more efficiently.
Ebook reader for the Gutenberg online book library. Ebooks are available free of charge in both text and audio format. NetBook lets you search the Gutenberg database, download and read/listen to ebooks and store them in cache for offline use.
Yes, Hulu has an official desktop application too, but this one is worth a second look (we’ve covered this one before). MYMediaplayer allows users to browse the Hulu library while watching videos, and you can dock the window to the side of the monitor so you can work and watch TV at the same time. Perfect for procrastination!
You can find these and 500 other applications on the AIR Marketplace.
I never know their is Adobe Air, until someday I see the application in my ‘add remove program’ menu. I’m not sure went I installed it, maybe went I install Adobe reader or Adobe plugin, it bundled.
I never know what Adobe Air used for because I don’t have free time to explore, until I read this post. Thanks for sharing
AIR is the best thing for indie developer. We need not bother about OS of a desktop, nor even if it is desktop or website app…
You need english grammar lessons more than AIR
does he have to speak english to be an indie developer?
Its probably fair to say Twitter apps make the most prolific use of the AIR platform so far.
Yeah. The only Adobe Air App that I use is Seesmic. And before that I was using TweetDeck. Didn’t really find much use for the rest of the stuff.
Not very keen on the AIR thing. I believe all the softwares are becoming thinner and going towards the web. The seamless and no download no install mechanism should be adopted.
I have installed a few clients for Twitter, Friendfeed and Facebook, mainly switching between Seesmic, Twhirl, TweetDeck and Facebook for Air. I did use Alert Thingy but after switching to another system I haven’t reinstalled!
Adobe Air is a great solution from the developer’s point of view since with practically the same code you use to create a Flash-based web app, you can create a desktop app. It’s also more focused on thin clients.
Is that 200 million installs or 200 million *unique* installs?
Not unique
Or is that another Apple-esque intsall-base that has no (or little) choice in the matter, but it gets installed by default?
Never mind – we all know the answer.
Thus the number is entirely irrelevant.
I like Twhirl.
I didn’t use Adobe Air before .Just check http://www.adob...m/products/air/ .looks fun .will try it .great .!
I think it’s slightly misleading for these companies to be bragging about their downloads and installs when they FORCE the software on you unknowingly. Same goes for Safari for Windows…it’s bundled in with iTunes and most people don’t even know they’re installing it. It’s like a car dealership bragging about the number of cupholders they’ve sold…
THANK YOU
http://ParaTweet.com runs in an Adobe AIR app. The documentation with AIR has been pretty poor and caused our team quite a few headaches…guess that’s just part of the growing pain process though.
Isn’t this what people said about Java?
Also Destroy Twitter and Destroy Flickr are GOOD ADOBE AIR APPS
I don’t like this kind of frameworks, every os should have guidelines to follow.
If I want to use a web app I can start my browser
(p.s. I hate web apps
The BBC iPlayer application is built with AIR, so I imagine that added a good few to the number.
Not to mention the omniscient TweetDeck that runs on Air or Seesmic. I have to confess that I was reluctant to use a desktop app, but Adobe Air-based apps have proven to be solid although it might not be too intuitive to work with. I would also recommend, DestroyTwitter, DiggTop or Shrinkadoo among others.
I just downloaded flair and wanted to say that destroyflickr is a better general browser with AIR if you are interested.
http://www.dest...s/destroyflickr
It took me a while to get navigation down perfectly but I like it much better than using flickr’s site.
http://www.uvla...m/download.html
So how is Adobe AIR’s promise different from that of Java. An interesting comparison would be how many installed JVMs in browsers and desktops.
Comapping is a gem. It is without a doubt the most usability-focused mind mapping program I’ve encountered. We’ve used it to hash out software scope, project breakdowns, and even content creation. Also, their development team is quite responsive and open to suggestions.
Errm…Hulu desktop isn’t an AIR application.
http://www.hulu...bs/hulu-desktop
It runs Flash natively on the desktop.
Hmm..nice list. I like to use adobe air apps, but i’ve heard that adobe air use a huge memory, on RIA.