We are pleased to announce the immediate availability of Adobe AIR 1.5. New capabilities include:

• Flash Player 10 capabilities: Adobe Flash Player 10 is one of the most significant releases of the player, with groundbreaking new capabilities. We've updated the version of Flash Player included with AIR to version 10. For example, it's now possible to take advantage of custom filters, blend modes, and fills with Adobe Pixel Bender. AIR 1.5 also supports the new 3D effects, including perspective, correct transformation, and animation of 2D plans in a 3D space. Rich media enhancements include dynamic streaming to improve the quality of video playback based on bandwidth availability as well as support for the Speex codec for delivering high-quality audio at lower download speeds.
• WebKit update: The version of WebKit included in AIR has been updated to a newer version. The updated version includes Squirrelfish, a new bytecode interpreter that improves the execution speed of JavaScript for common actions. Our internal tests show that HTML-based AIR applications run as much as 35% faster for many types of operations. We have also added support for interactive debuggin fo Ajax-based AIR applications.
• Encrypted local database: By popular request from developers, we've added a way of encrypting the local database inside of AIR. This uses standard SQL apis, so there's no need for developers to learn specific crypto APIs. Be sure to check out the Quick Start application by Paul Robertson.

If you are a developer building AIR applications, new versions of the Adobe AIR and Flex SDK's are now available.

• Adobe AIR 1.5 SDK
• Flex 3.2 SDK
• The Adobe Flash CS4 Professional , Flex Builder 3, and Dreamweaver CS3/CS4 also provide support for AIR 1.5.

New articles available on the Adobe AIR Developer Center:

• Using the Adobe AIR update framework -
• BlackBookSafe: Anatomy of an AIR 1.5 application - learn how to take advantage of Flash Player 10's Pixel Bender effects directly from an HTML/Ajax powered AIR application.

There are also several new Quick Start applications:

• Using the Adobe AIR update framework
• Distributing Adobe AIR applications via the Web
• Playing sound in AIR applications
• Working with the encrypted local SQLite database

New and updated sample applications with source code that are available:

• BlackBookSafe - BlackBookSafe is an HTML/JavaScript contact list sample application built on Adobe AIR 1.5. The application uses the JQuery framework and the AS3CoreLib library, and leverages three new AIR 1.5 features: Pixel Bender effects, 3D transformations, and the encrypted local database.
• Salesbuilder - Salesbuilder is a Sales Force Automation application written in Flex and deployed on the Adobe AIR runtime. It demonstrates local persistence using the encrypted, embedded SQLite database, data synchronization, native drag-and-drop support, and direct chart manipulation.
• Apprise - Apprise is an RSS reader that works online and offline. It features automatic categorization by author and topic, OPML import and export of feeds, real-time search, site view and check mark support, advanced sorting, and support for RSS and ATOM. The user interface has been localized into 11 languages: German, English, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.
• 3D Image Browser - This sample application provides search capability for the Flickr website combined with a 3D layout to provide a more interesting way to browse the images. It also has a tag cloud that allows you to find related images. This application uses the new AIR 1.5 3D transformations on a transparent background.

In addition, we're also putting the final touches on Adobe AIR 1.5 for Linux so stay tuned for additional announcements.