Two of the most requested features for Adobe AIR have been the ability to launch native executables from an AIR application, and the ability to integrate native libraries into an AIR application. Unfortunately, neither feature will be included in Adobe AIR 1.0.
However, this does not mean that you cannot build an AIR application that has closer / tighter integration with the underlying operating system. This lower level of integration is possible, but it requires some work on your part. I have put together a proof of concept project, which shows how to integrate Adobe AIR applications with c# / .NET code on any operating system that Adobe AIR currently runs on (Mac and Windows). The project is called CommandProxy. It provides a communication proxy between an AIR application and the underlying operating system and could theoretically work with other web based desktop runtimes (such as Mozilla Prism).
Grant Skinner has released a full featured spell check component for use in Flash, Flex and AIR applications. This is pretty sweet, and pretty much does everything you would expect a spell check component to do. It really fills a gap in functionality within RIAs.
You can find more information on the component, as well as see it in action here.
We have just released the specification for AMF, as well as announced that we will be releasing and open sourcing a reference implementation (code-named BlazeDS).
From the labs page:
Previously available only as part of Adobe LiveCycle® Data Services ES, Adobe is announcing its plans to contribute the proven BlazeDS technologies to the community under the LGPL v3. BlazeDS gives the rapidly growing Adobe developer community free access to the powerful remoting and messaging technologies developed by Adobe.
We have just posted updated betas for Adobe AIR, Flex 3 and Flex Builder on labs.
Note that the Adobe AIR authoring extension for Flash CS3 has not out just yet. It will be released in the next couple of days, so make sure to watch labs for the bits.
You can find more information, as well as download all of the bits on labs.
The edge has just posted a video interview with Mark Anders and Steven Heinz (both from the Thermo team). In the video, Mark and Steve give an introduction to and overview of Thermo.
What is Thermo? From the labs page:
“Thermo” is an upcoming Adobe product that makes it easy for designers to create rich Internet application UIs. Thermo allows designers to build on familiar workflows to visually create working applications that easily flow into production and development.
Want to do real 3D in Flash? Check out the Papervision3D 2.0 Alpha, just released today.
I just noticed over on the labs wiki that the Adobe AIR For JavaScript Developers Pocket Guide has been translated to Thai.
You can view the full translation here.
Creative Commons FTW!
If you have been following Adobe AIR during its young lifetime, then you have probably noticed that it has been pretty inconsistent as far as branding goes. It has had a number of logos and graphics associated with it, including the rocket-ship, and the current “AIR” branding.
Part of this was due to the surprisingly complex process of designing and settling on a logo in the technology world. There have been quite a few times during the past year where we felt that we were close to having the final logo, only to then find out that it was just a bit too familiar to some other logo in the computer / internet / tech world.
Lee Brimelow and I are at the midpoint of our European user group tour. We started out in Brighton at Flash on the Beach (which was awesome as everyone has been saying), and then hit Amsterdam, Stockholm, Arhus Denmark, and Cologne Germany. The events have been going well and have all been packed (had to close registration for almost all of them).
The schedule and travel has been pretty intense, so we haven’t really had a chance to do much other than travel and present. However, getting to hang out with all of the developers in the community has made it worthwhile.
