Adobe revamps online marketplace for AIR apps

Adobe revamped an online marketplace for applications developed on its AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) to make it easier for developers to find, post, and get feedback on AIR applications.

The Adobe AIR Marketplace showcases developer applications that are powered by AIR, a runtime that allows developers to create cross-platform desktop applications with the same technologies they use for building Web-based applications, such as HTML, AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) and Flash.

While Adobe calls the site a “marketplace,” the applications on it are actually free for download and not for sale, the company said.

Adobe has improved the search and download capabilities of the site, as well as added RSS feed and “e-mail a friend” features that make it easier for developers to share applications.

Developers also can rate, review and comment about features of applications to give developers instant feedback, according to Adobe. The revamped site also allows developers to create profiles for themselves and manage the applications they post in a self-service interface.

Adobe also has added dashboards that show statistics, ratings and reviews for AIR developers to the site.

Adobe said that there are already hundreds of AIR applications on the marketplace, which was first launched in October 2007 so developers could begin sharing apps built on a beta version of AIR.

Adobe released the first full version of AIR at the end of February 2008. The company hopes the runtime will help it bring the success it's had with Web development and design tools such as Dreamweaver and Flash to the desktop by giving those developers and designers an easy migration path to building desktop applications.

Adobe said last week there have been more than 100 million installations of AIR less than a year after its release, proving that developers are at least testing the technology, if not using it for wide-scale desktop deployments.