Posted on by MikeBanks - Follow me on Twitter

credit attributed to http://www.flickr.com/photos/midiman/

The following is a collaborative post by Michael Banks with reactions from Frank Angelone.

Adobe announced that Adobe AIR SDK pre-release for Android is available for download. Adobe recently announced the pre-release at the Google I/O event. They’re excited to continue to bring you new tools to create and deliver mobile content and applications utilizing the Adobe Flash Platform. Developers can now build AIR applications with ActionScript 3 and target Android 2.2 devices. Adobe AIR will let you publish ActionScript 3 projects to run as native applications (.apk) for the Android OS. These AIR applications can be delivered to Android devices through application stores; such as the Android Market. Developers can write new code or reuse existing web content to build AIR applications for the Android OS.  However, since the source code and assets are reusable across the Flash Platform runtimes – Adobe AIR and Flash Player, it also gives developers a way to more easily target other mobile and desktop environments.

Frank’s reaction…

I think the Android platform is really going to benefit from teaming up with Adobe.  Not only will Android developers have the ability to build AIR applications, but having the ability to customize to any degree they wish shows that Google cares about their developers.  Apple has been questioned about how they treat their developers in the past and whether they can actually create what they want on Apple’s platform.  Also, Apple has refused to do business with Adobe over the years due to past disputes.  My biggest question is, how will this partnership between Google and Adobe affect Apple?  Android is the second largest market for applications behind Apple (who has a significant advantage), but will the ability to build AIR applications and the opportunity to target the proper market draw more developers to Google and away from Apple?

Currently, it’s still too early in the game to say what kind of an outcome will transpire from the partnership between Google and Adobe.  The official release will really be when we have more facts to go by and ultimately see the direction that this will take Android going forward.  I think it’s a huge step for Android and it shows that they are really trying to take market share away from Apple and possibly some developers along the way.  Where do you think this is all going? Do you think it was smart for Google and Adobe to join together?  What does this mean for Apple?

Further reading:

And The Winner Is…Soluto!!

Google Maps Navigation On Android

Which Platform For Mobile Devices Do You Prefer?

Will 2010 Still Produce Positive Upgrades In Technology?

Posted in Technology | Comments (2)