Adobe releases Air and Flash betas

ADOBE HAS ANNOUNCED beta versions of Adobe Air 2.0 and Adobe Flash Player 10.1 software for Windows, Mac and Linux.

Flash Player 10.1 is also available for x86-based netbooks, and is expected to be available for smartphones and other Internet connected devices in 2010.

Adobe Air 1.0 was installed on more than 200 million desktop computers and adopted across industries by leading companies such as Atlantic Records, DIRECTV, FedEx, The New York Times Company and salesforce.com.

The difference in version 2.0 apparently is that developers can create more reliable and feature-rich applications in the desktop context. New Air 2.0 features include enhanced support for mass storage devices and native application processes as well as peer-to-peer and UDP networking.

Flash Player 10.1 is the first consistent browser runtime release of the Open Screen Project that will enable uncompromised web browsing of expressive applications, content and high definition (HD) videos across the desktop and devices. Flash Player 10.1 allows HTTP streaming coupled with content protection powered by Adobe Flash Access 2.0.

It uses hardware decoding of H.264 video on Windows PCs, netbooks and mobile devices where available to conserve battery life and deliver better video playback.

Adobe Air 2.0 and Flash Player 10.1 allow developers to create new types of applications that use multi-touch points and gestures on touchscreen devices.

Adobe has been having a rough ride lately with security problems as hackers seem to love using its software as attack vectors of choice. µ