Adobe AIR for Android unveiled, Flash Player 10.1 available H1 2010

At Mobile World Congress 2010, Adobe has announced advancements to the Adobe Flash Platform including the unveiling of Adobe AIR on mobile devices, a consistent runtime for standalone applications to come out of the Open Screen Project, an industry-wide initiative led by Adobe that has grown to close to 70 ecosystem partners.

With support for the Android platform expected in 2010, AIR provides developers with a feature-rich environment for delivering rich applications outside the mobile browser and across multiple operating systems via mobile marketplaces and app stores. AIR leverages mobile specific features from Flash Player 10.1, is optimized for high performance on mobile screens and designed to take advantage of native device capabilities for a richer and more immersive user experience.

Adobe also announced that a beta of Flash Player 10.1 was made available to content providers and mobile developers worldwide. With the general availability expected in the first half of 2010, Flash Player 10.1 is the first consistent runtime release of the Open Screen Project enabling uncompromised Web browsing of expressive applications, content and high definition (HD) videos across screens including new tablet devices, smartphones, netbooks, smartbooks, desktops and other consumer electronics. According to a Strategy Analytics analysis from January 2010, more than 250 million smartphones are expected to support the full Flash Player by the end 2012. Mobile platforms that will support the full Flash Player include Android, the BlackBerry platform, Symbian OS, Palm webOS and Windows Mobile. Partners from across the ecosystem commented on the progress of Flash Player 10.1 today.

Adobe AIR enables developers to deliver Web applications outside the constraints of a browser. With support for mobile devices Adobe AIR includes specific functionality offered by mobile operating systems and devices such as multi-touch, gesture inputs, accelerometer, geolocation and screen orientation. With Flash Platform tooling and the Adobe Creative Suite, developers and content publishers are able to create, test and deliver applications to multiple devices and operating systems using a single tool chain and API set across platforms. Developers using Adobe Flash Professional CS5 with the Adobe Packager for iPhone can reuse their iPhone application code to create the same application for Android.