Adobe Systems will make its AIR platform and new Flash player available to mobile devices. The company previewed the new AIR version at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
AIR 2.0 enables rich media applications to be delivered outside the mobile browser and across a variety of mobile operating systems, and it utilizes features found in the newest Flash player. Adobe said this mobile version of AIR is designed specifically for high performance on small screens, and it supports such common mobile functions as multi-touch, gesture inputs, accelerometer, geolocation and screen orientation.
‘Contextual Applications’
Adobe said AIR allows developers to create “contextual applications” that can adapt to different environments while reusing the same code. Different contexts for mobile devices could include a variety of displays, device-specific interaction, functionality designed for a given platform, and differences in bandwidth. The platform could also make it easier to create a mobile version of a desktop app.
AIR will be made available for Android-based devices later this year, and Adobe said it is working to roll out BlackBerry, Symbian and webOS versions as well.
Flash Player 10.1, which supports high definition, has been made available as a beta to content providers and mobile developers, and a release version is expected in the first half of this year. Adobe said the new player will support the intentions of its Open Screen Project — providing a consistent user experience across mobile platforms such as smartphones, tablets, netbooks and various consumer electronics.
Quoting from a Strategy Analysis report from last month, Adobe said more than 250 million smartphones are expected to support the Flash player by the end of 2012.
David Wadhwani, general manager and vice president of the platform business at Adobe, said “with the Flash platform further advancing on mobile devices, we enable developers and content publishers to deliver…