Adobe gets AIR-headed over web apps

Adobe Systems is set to release a beta version of AIR, a software download formerly called Apollo that makes web-native applications operate like desktop programs.

The much-anticipated software, now called the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), is expected to introduce a new class of hybrid applications that meld the web with the PC.

A free AIR software development kit to be released today is aimed at developers building those applications.

Adobe also plans to release the beta of Flex 3, its software development tool that can now be used for writing AIR applications in addition to Flash and HTML-based web applications.

AIR is one of a growing number of browser plug-ins coming onto the market. Others include Google Gears and Microsoft's Silverlight.

Each serves a slightly different purpose. Like Adobe's Flash, Silverlight runs interactive web-based applications, including those that integrate media such as video. The first version is expected this summer.

Google Gears, set for release later this year, offers a way to run web applications offline by providing a local database and other features.

Adobe's AIR also brings an offline component to web apps. But AIR applications can operate without the need for a browser.

The key advantage is that software developers can use their existing tools and skills to build these desktop applications, said Kevin Lynch, the company's chief software architect and senior vice president of its platforms group. Typically, a developer will use AIR to write a desktop application that links to an online service, as Adobe has done with its video playback application, Adobe Media Player.

He said: "As a developer, you now have a lot of choices about applications. The reasons you might want to build desktop applications would be [getting] access to the local file system, or notifications onscreen to get the user's attention... or having a desktop icon."

Online music service Finetune, for example, streams music to a browser but an AIR version allows people to store their music locally.

Hosted application provider Saleforce.com said it sees Adobe's AIR as a way to bring its applications out of the browser.

Parker Harris, co-founder and executive vice president of technology at Salsesforce.com, said in a statement: "With Adobe AIR, [on-demand business applications] can be further extended with the persistent desktop functionality and interactivity AIR enables."

Martin LaMonica writes for CNET News.com