Some of the capabilities that are coming in AIR 2 include:
- Native process API - Beginning with AIR 2, developers will have access to a native process API that will enable applications to invoke and communicate with native applications on the local machine. In order to preserve the cross platform nature of the .air file format, applications that take advantage of the native process API must be deployed as native installers such as .exe and .dmg. The AIR runtime SDK will include support for generating basic native installers.
- Support for detecting mass storage devices
Now your AIR application can detect when a mass storage device is connected or disconnected. An AIR 2 application can listen for when a user plugs in a Flip video camera or USB Flash drive so that it can, for example, automatically synchronize files to the local system or prompt the user to upload photos to Facebook or videos to YouTube. - Improved support for accessibility - Runtime dialogs such as the installer dialogs will be readable by supported screen readers such as JAWS. In addition, it will be possible to build accessible Flash-based applications in AIR leveraging the existing accessibility API’s and features available in the Flash Player and Flex SDK.
- Open document API - Support for opening a document will be possible from an AIR application. With this API, AIR asks the operating system what the default application is associated with the file. For example, specifying a file path to a PDF file will launch Adobe Reader or a .doc file will open Microsoft Word.
- Improved performance - Applications that run using AIR 2 will consume less memory and use less CPU than AIR 1.5 without recompiling the application. We will share more information about this when we launch the beta.
- Local microphone access API - Currently, audio must first pass through a server before it can be saved locally. Using the upcoming AIR 2 local microphone API, it will be possible to record audio locally, which can be important if your application is running in a disconnected mode.
- Multi-touch & gesture support - AIR 2 will include support for multi-touch (Windows 7) and gestures (Windows 7 and Mac OS X 10.6).
- Faster, more powerful WebKit - An updated version of WebKit that includes a faster JavaScript engine and new HTML5/CSS3 capabilities will be included inside of AIR 2.
- Improved socket support - It will now be possible to create local servers and lightweight P2P applications with enhancements to AIR’s socket support.
more from the web:
Adobe AIR 2 beta on Labs
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/air2/
Adobe AIR Team Blog: Adobe AIR 2 Beta Now Available
http://blogs.adobe.com/air/2009/11/adobe_air_2_beta_now_available.html
Adobe AIR 2 Beta Release Notes on Labs
http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/AIR_2:Release_Notes#Overview
Adobe AIR 2 Beta Developer FAQ
http://www.adobe.com/go/air2_faq
Adobe AIR 2 Beta Sample Applications
http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/air2/samples/
