February 16, 2010

Adobe Offers AIR for Apps Developers

At Mobile World Congress 2010, Adobe Systems has announced advancements to the Adobe Flash Platform, including the unveiling of Adobe AIR on mobile devices.

AIR on mobile devices with support from RIM and Motorola will allow developers to use Flash tools to build cross-platform, standalone applications and deliver them through app stores and adobe.com.

AIR leverages mobile specific features from Flash Player 10.1 and is optimized for high performance on mobile screens.

Adobe also announced that a beta of Flash Player 10.1 was made available to content providers and mobile developers worldwide. With the general availability expected in the first half of 2010, Flash Player 10.1 is the first consistent runtime release of the Open Screen Project enabling high definition (HD) videos across screens including new tablet devices, smartphones, netbooks and desktops.

Led by Adobe, the Open Screen Project includes close to 70 industry leaders working together to provide a consistent runtime environment across mobile phones, desktops and other consumer electronic devices. New partners include Disney Media Interactive Group, Nickelodeon, ESPN, MTV.com, Symbian Foundation, Vizio and Opera.

According to a Strategy Analytics analysis from January 2010, more than 250 Million smartphones are expected to support the full Flash Player by the end of 2012. Mobile platforms that will support the full Flash Player include Android, the BlackBerry platform, Symbian OS, Palm webOS and Windows Mobile.