AdobeAIR posts

We've had a love-hate relationship with Adobe Air since it arrived on our desktops. Ram-hungry apps had us seeing red. Still, a few killer apps helped drive adoption - apps like TweetDeck, Times Reader 2.0, and DeskTube. As Air continued to develop, it got leaner and meaner and now version 2 has arrived in beta. Adobe Air 2 is now here, and it's ready to get down to business.

Air 2 features a number of tweaks, updates, and feature additions. For starters, the Air 2 ships with Flash 10.1 beta - which adds GPU acceleration support and so far seems to kick my CPU's ass less often. Air 2 also boasts tighter integration with operating systems and can now access certain mass storage devices like USB flash drives, digital cameras, and flash memory cards. Air 2 can also tap into your computer's microphone.

Webkit has been updated, as has the SquirrelFish Extreme Javascript engine. Those two changes combine for a reported 50% gain on SunSpider benchmarks. There's also added multi-touch and gesture support and better printing and networking (including the ability to listen for incoming socket connections). Got a gigantic display? Air 2 supports a maximum window size of 4095x4095 - a 42% increase, though likely not one you'll benefit from at home.

Processor usage and memory consumption have been addressed, with many Air apps reporting about half the CPU utilization of Air 1. TweetDeck on my system is using about 20Mb less RAM. More efficient use of my hardware? Now that you can enjoy at home.

For more details about Adobe Air 2 check out the embedded clip of Kevin Lynch's presentation from MAX or head over to Adobe Labs, where you can also download the new version. Downloads are available for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

So far, the Air 2 beta feels like a major step in the right direction for Adobe. As more developers begin taking advantage of the possibilities now available and optimizing their apps for the new version, you may just see some pretty cool things happening on Air 2.

[via Adobe.com]

If you use Adobe AIR apps on a regular basis, you have a lot to look forward to in AIR 2.0. The next version of Adobe's cross-platform app framework adds a bunch of little tweaks and a few major ones, including support for multitouch and gestures. Maybe even more importantly, AIR apps now won't suck up your CPU cycles and memory at such an absurd rate. A full list of upcoming features was just posted by AIR developer Chris Cantrell.

I've run into a lot of people who choose not use AIR apps because of their memory-hogging tendencies, and the improved performance in AIR 2 - depending on how improved it is - might go a long way toward getting more people to adopt the framework. Meanwhile, folks whose machines support multitouch and gestures will start to see new apps that take advantage of zooming, rotating and more. Other less-flashy features include audio recording and opening files in their default applications.

My favorite assessment of AIR comes from Tweetie developer Loren Brichter: "AIR apps are like modern day Java applets ... sure, they run on every platform. But they also suck on every platform." Hopefully, AIR 2.0 will prove him wrong. A beta is coming later this year, with a full release in early 2010.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

With Google Voice now able to take over the voicemail from your mobile number, there are more reasons than ever to keep your Google Voice messages close at hand. There's cross-platform Google Voice desktop app that does just that, giving you quick desktop access to your voicemail and SMS messages.

The desktop app's features are very basic: just your inbox and contacts, in a compact layout. It's good for making sure you don't miss incoming messages, but don't expect too much else from it. If you're on a Mac, you might prefer to use Fluid to create a standalone browser for Google Voice.

[via Lifehacker]

Seesmic, a cross-platform social networking client that connects with Twitter and Facebook, just released a new version, 0.6, that adds the ability to read, manage, like and comment on Facebook Pages. It's nice that Seesmic keeps adding more features, but it's already a bit of a bloated memory hog, and I hope it trims down a bit before it hits version 1.0. It gobbled up nearly 200mb of ram on my MacBook, and Lee reported similar numbers on his Windows machine. On top of Pages, there's also a new favorites column, and a reply-to-all option for Twitter.

Facebook Pages are just one example of Seesmic's tendency to try to be all things to all people. Seesmic has the distinct disadvantage of running on Adobe Air, which, although it makes the app cross-platform and usable by everyone, is notorious for its poor performance.

Successful Twitter clients do one thing, and do it really well. Tweetdeck focuses on groups, Tweetie focuses on simplicity and streamlining, and Bluebird does customizable skins. Seesmic doesn't do any particular thing better than the other apps out there, and I don't know that managing Facebook Pages is the feature that's going to convince someone to switch.

Adobe AIR-based microblogging client Twhirl already supported Twitter, Friendfeed and Seesmic, and now its coverage of the world of mini-updates gets even broader with the addition of Identi.ca. Identi.ca is something like a less-popular open-source version of Twitter. This is a big deal for the Identi.ca folks, because Twhirl may actually be better-known than their service.

Along with potentially pumping up the userbase of a fledgling microblogging site, Twhirl has also position itself to be to these micropost what Trillian and Adium are to IM. Keeping several services readily accessible from the same app is a proven winner when it's done right, and Twhirl delivers on the usability and appearance side of things. It was already one of the most popular clients back when it could only handle Twitter, and its main competition is going to come from some of the better Twitter-specific clients that attract people who don't use the other sites Twhirl handles.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

For those of you out there who haven't been lucky enough to get your hands on a new and coveted iPhone 3G, let alone the original iPhone, there's always the AIR iPhone. We're not sure whether to be amused or horrified by this Adobe AIR app but, either way, we had to download it to see what it has to offer. The answer is sadly, not much. At the end of the day, it's simply a desktop app for Ribbit, which we mentioned earlier this year. The AIR iPhone's only connection to Apple is the opportunistic use of the iPhone's interface - and we're not sure how long Apple's legal team is going to let this one slide.

As for the app itself, according to its developer, you can make and receive calls, check your voicemail, add contacts and send voice messages, as long as you have an account on Ribbit. We weren't able to actually test it out as Ribbit hasn't opened its doors to the public just yet.

You can also rotate the AIR iPhone at a 90 degree angle and mess around with a few buttons that all lead you to dead-ends, so until Ribbit launches it service, the AIR iPhone is just AIR iCandy.

FreshAIRApps is, as its name would suggest, a directory of new Adobe AIR applications. As AIR has grown in popularity, we've started following the site more closely to see what's new in the AIR world. The only comparable site out there at the moment is Adobe's own AIR showcase. Because FreshAIRApps is such a great resource, it surprised us to hear reports that Adobe is upset with the site's owner over his use of the "Adobe® AIR™" trademark.

According to a message on the front page of FreshAIRApps, the site will continue as RefreshingApps.com, with the purpose of promoting the work of the developer community, not promoting Adobe. The site's owner says that the move caused him financial loss. No word from Adobe, although the message claims that the company's community evangelists think FreshAIRApps is good promotion for AIR.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

There are already more desktop apps for Twitter than we could ever possibly cover without losing our minds. But what about that OTHER microblogging service, Plurk? A couple of people have hacked the mobile version into Adobe Air to create two similar apps: PlurkAir and PlurkIt. This is ok for now, but it's nowhere near the level that Twitter clients have achieved.

That's where Plurker comes in. It's scheduled to be the first dedicated Windows desktop version of Plurk, and the feature list looks pretty impressive. Sort Plurks using custom searches, set alerts for private Plurks you receive, enjoy autocompleting @message functionality, and way too much more for us to list here. If Plurker is as good as promised, it could give Plurk a big user boost by taking away one major excuse not to use the service.

Here at Download Squad, Hulu has become our favorite way to watch television online. With ever-expanding content choices, good quality and a nice interface, Hulu is almost as good as TV (as long as you live in the United States, that is). One of the few downsides is the need to use a browser to access content. Paul Yanez has created a program that aims to to solve that problem and make Hulu even better.

My Media Player is an Adobe AIR app that is designed to act as a Hulu portal of sorts. Launch the AIR app and you can choose from a categorized list of TV shows and movies available from Hulu. There is also a search function located within the player window so that you can find episodes or shows by title and also clips from Hulu.com

You can resize the application so that it can be docked to the side of the screen (if you want to watch a show while also doing some "real" work) and Paul designed the application to scale to fit a 30" monitor.

One of our favorite features of My Media Player is the ability to search for shows without stopping the program. Instead, the show continues playing in a small window in the left side of the application screen.

We really like the concept behind My Media Player and think it has terriffic potential, but there are a few issues that will probably keep us from using it as our primary method to access Hulu. Because My Media Player works by using the embedded versions of the programs from Hulu.com (Hulu.com allows you to embed all or part of a show onto your own webpage), the quality isn't as high as it is accessing the show directly from the web. And although we really like the ability to dock a Hulu playing window to the side of the screen in a small, unobtrusive size, we wish we had the ability to view the program in full screen. As it stands right now, expanding the window to cover our entire screen is both kludgy and unattractive, due to the aforementioned embedded version issue.

Still, if you want a way to watch shows without having to use your web browser, give My Media Player a shot.

You watch videos online. From Youtube, from other people's blogs, and so on.

But more than likely, you're not currently getting a desktop type experience with online video.

uvLayer is a web based application that is similar to other web-based desktops. But there's a twist. uvLayer is built around search, discovery, and sharing of online video.

You add friends, and they show up on the left hand side of your uvLayer desktop. Search for videos, and drag them out to your uvLayer desktop. If you want to share a video with someone, simply drag the video onto your friend. It's that easy.

Watching videos is pretty simple and it all stays within the uvLayer web environment.

They have an Adobe AIR app which is pretty nice as well, but we think the value here is the in-browser experience.

If you're into online video and hate that you have to hop around different sites, copy and paste code, and jump through the normal hoops, then uvLayer is for you.

The holy grail for die-hard Pandora users has been a desktop application. While there have been several third party solutions, Pandora has announced the launch of an official desktop client.

Using Adobe AIR, naturally.

It's a trend we're seeing, as we mentioned before, and it's nice to see Pandora jumping into the game.

You can use all of the features that you'd expect from the website, the ability to create channels, listen to your current channels, and navigate the social networking features as well. It's slick and fast, and being able to use Pandora without a browser is quite a treat.

If you're not sure, Pandora is a music streaming service that is dubbed the "Music Genome Project", which basically means that they have trained music experts who give "DNA" to pieces of music, so that they can recommend music that you'll really like. They base it on song, artist, or lyrics.

Being able to see what's playing, change channels, or create new ones right on your desktop has been a private dream of ours for years.

They want your feedback, so install it and test it out. Knowing those guys like we do, they'll listen to the community and build it up to what the people want. The way it should be done.

Welcome to the desktop Pandora!

Although some of the best-known Adobe AIR apps thus far are Twitter clients, you don't have to be a Twitter freak to get in on the action. In fact, you just have to be hungry for pizza. Pizza Hut has released a desktop pizza-ordering app , and it's built on AIR. If you thought AIR hadn't hit the mainstream yet, this might change your mind.

Pizza Hut Shortcut is basically a slicker-looking, easier to use version of the familiar online ordering system. It has the current specials built in, so you might be able to skip the "Googling for coupons" phase of the order. We suspect this app is targeted at true pizza addicts, because you can still order almost as easily from the web interface. Also, the feature that saves your last order for easy reordering was a bit of a giveaway.