Remy Sharp released a nice AIR app to browser the jQuery API, and I love jQuery ... nice little tool. Thanks Ray for the link.

In collaboration with Adobe, one of the key additions in Ext 2.0.2 was Adobe AIR 1.0 support for running in the application sandbox. Also, the Simple Tasks AIR application sample was rewritten to take advantage of more of the native functionality in AIR and gained some cool custom Ext components that can be used outside of AIR.

Ext 2.0.2 does a great job wrapping some of the AIR API JavaScript functionality ... check out this blog entry for more.

Following the release of Adobe AIR, ichameleon/group/, has been working with Adobe and the New York Times on a small AIR demonstration app called ShifD: an  awesome little app that helps you organize your notes and see them online, your mobile phone, iphone app, or the AIR based desktop app.  The Adobe Air app was written entirely in AJAX using jQuery and a custom made MVC framework, wrapped around the Adobe AIR shell.  You can signup for an account at http://www.shifd.com and/or download free tools at http://www.shifd.com/tools/.

Important: You must use jquery 1.2.3+ with AIR 1.0. Previous versions have application sandbox issues.

This launched along with Adobe AIR, which will allow us to take our html/flash/flex applications to the desktop. In fact, Adobe announced that Adobe AIR, Flex Builder 3, and the Flex 3 SDK are now live on their website.

Related links:

Flex/AIR on the Adobe.com home page:
http://www.adobe.com/

Flex Builder 3
http://www.adobe.com/products/flex/

Adobe AIR
http://www.adobe.com/products/air/

Flex 3 SDK
http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/entitlement/index.cfm?e=flex3email

New Rich Internet Applications site
http://www.adobe.com/resources/business/rich_internet_apps/

Re-launched Adobe Open Source Website
http://opensource.adobe.com/

I blogged about Pownce yesterday, and I'm liking it a lot... I just wish that since it's built on top of the Flash Platform, it took advantage of server-side push technology such as FCS, FMS, LCDS, or bare XML Sockets... instead, it pulls every few seconds, which is extremely annoying. I understand that XML Sockets require additional server components, though most php, .net, j2ee servers have that capability built-in ... and it requires using a none-standard port ... which since the initial connection is triggered by the client, it shouldn't be a problem, and if it is, you can always fall-back to polling ... It would be much more efficient in the server load; much better than having thousands of clients polling every few seconds.

BTW, while debugging some applications today I happened to debug all Pownce traffic and it seems like their public API is very straight forward... maybe there's an opportunity of building another piece of software that makes use of such nice free public services?

Apollo is now called AIR... note, not Adobe AIR, just AIR .... AIR stands for Adobe Integrated Runtime, so you don't want to call it Adobe Adobe Integrated Runtime. You can get the beta from Adobe Labs.

Adobe Article on Six Must-See AIR Sample Applications

Aptana IDE (or Eclipse Plugin) new supports AIR.

• AIR Project contains all necessary files for out-of-the box launching of AIR applications
• Export wizard for bundling and deploying AIR applications
• Easy import of Ajax libraries into Adobe AIR projects
• Integrated content assist for AIR SDK
• Help and online documentation

Adobe Apollo Camp Videos are now available at labs. For those of you who interested in RDA [Rich Desktop Applications, just made this term up :) ] and couldn't make it to the free sessions, you can now catch the highlights.

Apollo is the code name for a cross-operating system runtime being developed by Adobe that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, JavaScript, Ajax) to build and deploy rich Internet applications (RIAs) to the desktop.

Apollo enables developers to create applications that combine the benefits of web applications – network and user connectivity, rich media content, ease of development, and broad reach – with the strengths of desktop applications – application interactions, local resource access, personal settings, powerful functionality, and rich interactive experiences.