Adobe AIR – 13 Great Applications to Extend the Internet
Adobe AIR is a new cross-platform runtime environment that enables developers to create highly interactive web applications. Basically, Adobe AIR allows developers to extend the Internet directly to their desktop, without the use of a web browser. Think of AIR applications as a front-end (user interface) to the Internet.
Although the AIR platform is relatively new, there are many developers who are hard at work creating programs. These are some of the ones I selected after looking at the extensive list (more than 300) of AIR applications. I consider these apps because they are truly unique, useful, and practical.
snack
This awesome RSS reader presents your feeds via a ticker bar. You can place the bar on any edge of the screen, set the speed, and more. RSS feeds are displayed randomly based on your choice of feeds (you can import your feeds).
eBay Desk
eBay Desktop makes browsing, searching, and bidding on items so much easier. The interface is easy, fast and intuitive. You can see all the items you’re looking at at a glance, and the new design makes shopping a breeze. It features additions that aren’t possible within the browser, such as one-click search filters, alerts, history, and feeds.
AOL Top 100 Videos
I’m not really a fan of anything from AOL, but here’s a useful product. The top 100 videos keep you informed about what’s popular. I like this little app because it always keeps the videos up to date so there is always something new to watch.
Flash Video Browser
This app has the ability to search many flash video sites at once. A pretty nifty program if you like YouTube and many other video sites.
kids
Kido’z has the young geek’s name all over it. This program is perfect for young children; Everything is big and easy to find. It will prevent the little ones from wandering and getting lost. The only thing he wished it had was a password lock, to prevent them from closing the program.
feeding points
Another RSS reader. I like this program because it organizes the feeds in a very simple way. feedDots sits on your desktop and automatically updates the news. If Snackr’s scrollbar bothers you, feedDots can be an alternative.
pixus
Pixus is a very simple tool that creates a resizable box. This box can be moved anywhere on the screen and allows you to measure different windows and objects. There are many, many scenarios where this would be useful to have!
craigslist desk
Are you a bargain addict? If so, Craigslist is probably one of your top stops. Craigslist Desktop brings a new interface to Craigslist. It lists the items for sale, but includes the pictures and a short description on a single line, which makes shopping on Craigslist much more efficient.
google analytics
Although still in beta, Google Analytics for Adobe AIR is still pretty nifty. A must for any webmaster, this makes viewing your stats that little bit easier and faster. There are still a few bugs to work out, like numbers not appearing below the graphs, but it’s mostly functional.
TweetDeck
A fully featured Twitter client. TweetDeck has multiple customizable panels that allow you to see a lot at once. View tweets, replies, direct messages, searches, and more. of your friends, all in one view. TweetDeck is still in beta, so there may be some stability issues. TweetDeck works fine on my main computer, but refuses to work on my laptop, so YMMV (your mileage may vary).
Doshirl
A lightweight Twitter app. Pretty similar to TweetDeck, except it doesn’t have multiple panels. On computers where TweetDeck crashes, I use Twhirl.
Doomi
Doomi (doo-mee) is a great To-Do desktop application. It is very, very simple to use. Just write a to-do and choose when you’ll be reminded. A must have for the forgetful person!
klok
Klok is a personal timekeeping app. With this program, you can effortlessly track the time you spend working on certain projects. This could be especially useful if you do services that charge by the hour.
