Adobe's AIR 2: Faster, with better HTML

From CNET News.com: Adobe Systems on Thursday released AIR 2, upgrading the features and aspirations for the software foundation.

AIR is a programming foundation that lets a Net application run on a variety of computing platforms--Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and, significantly, forthcoming Google Android mobile phones now as well. The software can run standalone programs written either with Adobe's Flash technology or, courtesy of a built-in WebKit browser engine, with HTML and JavaScript, too. AIR applications run on their own, though, not within a browser.

Adobe has had some significant successes with AIR. It is installed on "nearly 300 million desktop computers," Adobe said. It's used for applications including the Tweetdeck's software for bringing some order to the chaos of Twitter, Facebook, and Buzz; a New York Times reader with a built-in crossword puzzle; and an interface to 120 years' worth of National Geographic issues.

But it's got big challenges, too. At the same time AIR is arriving on Android devices with the upcoming 2.2 upgrade, it is banished from Apple's IOS devices--the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad--undermining its cross-platform advantages. HTML and JavaScript in a browser can handle an increasing amount of what AIR can do, although efforts such as Mozilla Prism to break Web applications free of browser frames haven't made much headway. And in general, it's always hard to convince developers to commit to a new programming platform.

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