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Cool Adobe AIR applications
Slick applications floating on AIR
Jason Meserve (Network World) 05/08/2008 10:54:07
Adobe AIR, an application run time environment for Windows, Macintosh and Linux, is spawning a new generation of lightweight, visually pleasing applications that bring Web services right to the desktop bypassing the browser. We bring you 10 of our favorites that show the power of AIR. Snackr: Love to keep on top of your RSS feeds but don't want to check your reader every five minutes? Snackr is a cable news-like ticker that scrolls the latest RSS headlines across your desktop. You can customize it with all your favorite feeds and place it on any edge of your screen. Twhirl: For Twitter and FriendFeed addicts (guilty on both counts!), Twhirl lets one monitor these social networks without having to check back into each site every 10 minutes. Updates will pop-up in the status bar as Tweets and FriendFeed messages pour in. Careful, the "ding" signaling a new arrival is addicting. Klok: An easy way to keep track of hours worked on a given project. Just click start when you begin a task and stop when you're done, Klok will log the time in its sleek graphical interface. Supports multiple projects and clients for those that need to bill to the proper accounts. RichFLV: For anyone dealing with Flash Video (FLV) files, RichFLV is a Godsend. There are not many tools available to edit a video once it has been converted to Flash. If you need to trim a little off the beginning or end, you usually have to go back to the source. RichFLV lets you trim files, update meta data, capture still images, grab the audio track and more. And it's free. One caveat: It seems to work better with Flash 8 or great files. Shrink O'Matic: As the name implies, Shrink O'Matic can automatically resize images to your specified size or ratio. No need to open up PhotoShop or another tool just to resize an image. Handles JPGs, GIFs and PNGs. Pandora: Music junkies already love Pandora, the service that matches your taste in music via the Music Genome Project. This Adobe AIR app makes it easy to program Pandora stations and rock away while at work. Google Analytics Reporting Suite: Web site stat junkies will love this AIR interface to the Google Analytics system. Track visitors, referals and more with a clean graphical interface. Doomi: Say the name with an e sound at the end and it is self explanatory. Doomi is a simple to-do list application for keeping track of the tasks you need to get done. Nothing fancy, just a list and the all-important checkboxes waiting to be checked. Desktop Keeley: OK, this one is bordering on Not Safe For Work, but is a great example of how Adobe AIR can be used to expand a brand. Keeley can walk out on your desktop at set intervals to deliver the news of the day from the UK's Sun newspaper. Develop the same thing for your company, except replace Keeley with your CEO delivering a message to the staff. Adobe Media Player: Of course Adobe builds its own applications on top of AIR. Adobe Media Player is the company's answer to other desktop players in the market and lets you take your content with you, even when offline. What did we forget? Are you an Adobe AIR developer that has a cool application that we didn't list? Or just a user anamored with a particular tool?
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Adobe AIR, an application run time environment for Windows, Macintosh and Linux, is spawning a new generation of lightweight, visually pleasing applications that bring Web services right to the desktop bypassing the browser. We bring you 10 of our favorites that show the power of AIR.
Adobe AIR, an application run time environment for Windows, Macintosh and Linux, is spawning a new generation of lightweight, visually pleasing applications that bring Web services right to the desktop bypassing the browser. We bring you 10 of our favorites that show the power of AIR.
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