I follow Ryan Stewart's blog. He is well versed in Flex and other RIA technologies, and is employed at Adobe as an RIA Evangelist. His opinions are generally not heavily weighted in Adobe's favor. There were no big surprises here, but it's nice to know that we're moving the right direction.

His post on RIA predictions for 2008 is worth reading...

Ryan Stewart: Rich Internet application predictions for 2008
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Stewart/?p=699

Here is another good (and very relevant) forecast article:

12 predictions for Enterprise Web 2.0 in 2008
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe/?p=157

I ran across a site called FillColors.com that is promoting the separation of style and layout in Flex applications.

The concept isn't new; CSS Zen Garden has been using a similar tactic for ages to generate buzz around CSS styling in HTML pages, but I think this could be a great way to derail the idea that all Flex applications have to have the same basic, default, out-of-the-box look and feel.

Fill Colors is also sponsoring a contest to encourage new entries. The winner will receive a license for Flex Builder 2.

Adobe has replaced the "Apollo" codename with Adobe Integrated Runtime, or AIR. AIR M4 build is now available on the Adobe Labs site. Adobe has added improved support for HTML as an application base. As I mentioned in an earlier post, AIR also includes integrated SQLLite database for storing data while the application is disconnected from the internet.

Adobe has also posted a new Developer Derby for the runtime formerly known as Apollo. 5 category winners will EACH receive "The ultimate development environment."

• A Mac Pro 8Core with 4 gigs ram, 1.5 TB (2x75) of storage.
• (2) Dell 2707WFP 27" widescreen monitors.
• (1) one Sony Playstation 3.
• (1) $200 gift certificate to Amazon.com.
• (1) Herman Miller Aeron chair.
• (1) Bose Quiet Comfort 3 noise canceling headphones.
• (1) copy of Adobe Flex™ Builder™ version 3, Macintosh edition.
• (1) copy of Adobe Creative Suite® 3 Master Collection for Macintosh.
• And one squishy stress ball.
• A trip and conference pass to the Adobe MAX 2007 annual user conference.
• Your application showcased on Adobe.com for the world to see.

Also available on Labs this morning is the first public beta release of Flex 3. You can find Adobe's new Open Bugbase for Flex 3 here. With the release of Flex 3 will come a "minor" update to Flash Player 9. Some of the new features that Ted Patrick has blogged about include: improved quality and rendering in downscaled bitmaps, multi-threaded vector renderer (up to 4 cpu's), multi-threaded bitmap filters, multi-threaded video decoding for the VP6 codec, full-screen mode with hardware scaling, transition effect into full-screen mode, performance tweaks and bug fixes...

Today, I can officially declare that I am not disappointed by Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia. Adobe is delivering.

UPDATE: I'm not sure how I overlooked this, but there is a Grand Prize in this developer derby. Details below:

Grand Prize / Best of Show
The Best of Show winner will receive the trip of a lifetime, a travel certificate valued at up to US$100,000, to be used for the travel of your choice!

Ted Patrick of Adobe has blogged that he will be releasing details on some of the new features that Adobe is building into Flex 3 next week. He is making some bold statements on Flex 3: "Game changing platform capabilites", "Trust me, you will not be disappointed."

Ted also pointed out that the teams are preparing for the Flex 3 beta next week...whatever that means. Hopefully it will be a public beta again. It looks like they are setting up the Adobe Labs site for the it as well...

Mike Chambers posted some awesome news today. This is a big step for Apollo and a much needed feature. The Apollo Beta (to be released "sooner rather than later") will include an embedded SQLite database to aid in the creation of occasionally connected Apollo applications.

I'm anxious to see how the developer will be able to interact and admin the embedded database. Will Adobe provide tools to manage the database? Or will the developer be able to connect to the database with a third party admin tool somehow? Time will tell.

Mike also noted that the team at Adobe is working to align the APIs of the Apollo DB and Google Gears. Google Gears is a project that uses SQLite "to allow browser based applications to work off line." To me, this approach seems less practical than having a DB built into Apollo. Off line browser based apps would be a usability nightmare for most users. Maybe nightmare is harsh, but it would certainly be a less intuitive experience than having a desktop app that just works off line...