Adobe Systems floats AIR web services platform

Adobe Systems has announced the availability of Adobe AIR and Adobe Flex 3 software to extend its offering for developing rich internet applications (RIAs).

Developers and designers use Adobe RIA technologies to rapidly create and deploy rich, branded content and applications.

Adobe AIR enables developers to create RIAs on the desktop using the skills and web technologies - such as HTML, Ajax, PDF, Adobe Flash and Adobe Flex - they already employ, said Adobe.

Applications deployed on Adobe AIR have the advantages of browser-based RIAs, such as speed of development, ease of use, and access from virtually anywhere.

But they also have the benefits of desktop applications, such as the ability to read/write local files, work with other applications on a user's computer, and maintain local data storage on the desktop.