Software

A screenshot sample of Adobe Air applications

By // August 11, 2010, 3:51 AM PST // markwkaelin

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  • The Air Platform

    Adobe Systems is looking to make their Air platform the de facto choice for cloud-computing applications, but judging by their marketplace offerings, they still have some work to do.

    While there are several solid applications available in the Air platform (TweetDeck is a good example) there are also numerous mediocre desktop widget-like applications too.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • TweetDeck Install

    One of the most useful Air applications I know of is TweetDeck. Follow Twitter and Facebook with one app.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • TweetDeck

    The interface for TweetDeck is adjustable.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Automatic Updates

    Adobe keeps the Air platform up to date.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Agile Agenda

    I realize that Adobe envisions Air as application platform, but some of the vendors seem to be showing a little too much zeal with their offerings. Agile Agenda seems pricey to me.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • New Your Times Reader 2.0

    The New York Times Reader 2.0 is one of the more polished applications I have come across on the Air platform.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Some content requires subscription

    You get some parts of the times for free, but other parts require you to be a Times subscriber.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Crossword Puzzles

    You can do the crossword puzzle for free.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • NASDAQ trickery

    The NASDAQ OMX Market Replay is an example of a poor installation and user experience. The Air application fails to mention that you need to subscribe to the service on the NASDAQ site.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Time Magazine

    The Time Magazine 100 application is basically a glorified Web page in need of an update.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Update trouble

    For some reason, I could not update to a newer version.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Earth interface

    The old version works, and the Earth interface is pretty cool, but the amount of content is cursory at best.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Shufflr

    The Shufflr application will show you videos recently viewed or recommended by friends on Facebook or by other people in the Shufflr network.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Dreamfall video

    However, I am dubious that anyone on my lists watched this video recently.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Chess Jam

    I love a good chess match.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Enter the Castle

    The one problem with Chess Jam is that there is no computer player. You have to play against another person logged onto the network.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Your move

    The chessboard itself looks pretty good with simple classic styling.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Snackr install

    Snackr will track you RSS feeds.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Snackr feed

    You can have the feed scroll on the bottom like a cable news network or from the bottom to the top along either side.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Concentration costs money

    Again, I think there are some overly zealous vendors. This Concentration game costs $2, but I am pretty sure I can get it for free several time over on the Internet.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Studio Cloud

    Studio Cloud is very ambitious - it is business management software.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

  • Business management via the Cloud

    I am not comfortable managing my business in the cloud even though the Studio Cloud software is very sophisticated and looks to be able to actually provide a feasible management tool.

    Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

The Air Platform

Adobe Systems is looking to make their Air platform the de facto choice for cloud-computing applications, but judging by their marketplace offerings, they still have some work to do.

While there are several solid applications available in the Air platform (TweetDeck is a good example) there are also numerous mediocre desktop widget-like applications too.

Images captured by Mark Kaelin for TechRepublic. All applicable rights reserved.

Related Topics:

Software Enterprise Software Developer Open Source Software Mobility Cloud

By Mark Kaelin

Mark W. Kaelin has been writing and editing stories about the IT industry, gadgets, finance, accounting, and tech-life for more than 25 years. Most recently, he has been a regular contributor to BreakingModern.com, aNewDomain.net, and TechRepublic.