14 DAY TRIAL // Adobe AIR is a platform that allows developers to easily create web applications and services for their Desktop. Adobe AIR was previously known as Apollo, and runs on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux (beta), enabling developers to create desktop applications using Adobe Flash, Adobe Flex, HTML and AJAX. Developing AIR-based programs and applications that easily fit the Desktop is easy and fun.
Since its launch, Adobe AIR has become an amazing tool for developers, who have released countless desktop applications that are now available on the Internet. While testing the applications and examining them, the idea came to me of creating a list with those that turned out to be very useful and which will definitely make your work a lot easier.
In random order, here is a list of Adobe AIR applications that should not lack from your system:
Finetune Desktop is an AIR-based application for all music lovers around the world. However, in order to use it, you will need to create a free account to finetune, a website that allows you to create your own music playlist and then to listen to it.
Just insert a search term (artist, band, track), and finetune will automatically create a playlist based on that search term. You can also listen to professional playlists that are played on radios all around the world. Finetune Desktop allows you to enjoy this directly from your desktop, without having to open a web browser. It is a great and free application that should be on your system.
Google Analytics Reporting Suite is a great utility for bloggers and webmasters who want to know specific website information regarding visitors, visits and more. If you want to use Google Analytics Reporting Suite, you will need to set up a Google Analytics account, which can easily be done in just a few steps from the Analytics homepage.
If you already have one or more accounts, import them in the application, and you'll have instant access to your statistics. Google Analytics Reporting Suite allows you to view and manage all the features that are available on the website, and you can do all this directly from your desktop. See the visitors in the last 24 hours, find out where they came from, how long they stayed on your page, and view the bounce rate and the keywords that made them visit your website. You can also export all these statistics and many more directly from the application. Google Analytics Reporting Suite is an absolute must-have for webmasters and bloggers.
Splashup Light is an easy to use and powerful desktop application that allows you to manage and edit images and photos. Just drag and drop any image in the application's window area, and you're ready to go. Splashup Light allows you to apply effects (hue, saturation, blur, sharpen, desaturate, colorize, red eye, etc.), resize image, crop image, rotate, flip, and apply text over images. If you have a webcam available on your system, you can open it inside the application, and capture an image, edit it and save it on your computer, directly from within the application. Splashup Light is a simple, yet powerful application that provides a very intuitive and fun interface to work with.
MiniTask is a free desktop application that will help you manage your daily tasks and to-do’s. Right-click anywhere in the application's window area and a menu will appear, allowing you to add a new task or to paste from clipboard. Add as many tasks as you want, rearrange them and then edit them to best suit your needs. MiniTask displays the tasks in a list view, while a checkmark button is also there, in front of every task, so you will know which of them is done, and which still needs your attention.
A great feature is that you can add timers to your tasks and to-do’s (so you won't forget about them), and organize them in categories using the "Add Separator." MiniTask is simple, easy to use and free, as well as highly useful in your daily work.
DiggTop is a small desktop application that will make sure you stay up to date with the latest top stories on digg. You can customize the application so as to display recent stories from a specific category, or by a set of keywords, or by a set of filters (like the number of diggs). DiggTop also lets you choose the update interval, opt for the keep always on top feature, to view pictures from an article, or to preview a small video from an article, and much more. It is a great application that takes only a small part of your desktop, and provides highly useful news items that are of interest for you.
SocialAddict is a great desktop application that will bring social websites to your desktop. Anyone with a large group of friends is surely using one or more social services from those available on the Internet. Also, there are several AIR-based applications on the Internet offering connection to only one such website. SocialAddict brings the following services, directly to your desktop: MySpace, Ping.fm, BrightKite, Hellotxt, Jaiku, Plurk, Pownce, Facebook, FriendFeed, SocialThing and Twitter. All these services are available from one, small desktop application, eliminating the inconvenience of having to open a web browser, typing in the website address, and logging in. If you want to use any of the social services provided by SocialAddict, then you must have an account activated on the website you want to use.
Please note that all the applications presented in this article are free to use, meaning, you don't have to pay anything to anyone in order to use them. Also, these applications will not work unless you have Adobe AIR installed on your system. Adobe AIR is available for download here.
