Adobe AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1 feature multi-touch and more

Adobe introduced Adobe AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1, these new versions focus on mobility, multi-touch and gesture control, improved high quality media delivery and more. Pre-release beta versions can be download at Adobe Labs, the final version of Flash Player 10.1 is expected in 2010.

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced that beta versions of Adobe® AIR® 2 and Adobe Flash® Player 10.1 software are now available from Adobe Labs for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems. Flash Player 10.1 is also available for x86-based netbooks, and expected to be available across a broad spectrum of smartphones and other Internet-connected devices in 2010. Adobe AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1 are easily updateable across all supported platforms to help ensure rapid adoption of new innovations that move the Web forward.

Adobe AIR 2 builds on the success of AIR 1.0, which has been installed on more than 200 million desktop computers and adopted across industries by leading companies, such as Atlantic Records, DIRECTV, FedEx, The New York Times Company and salesforce.com. With AIR 2, developers can create more reliable and feature-rich applications in the desktop context, and they can easily add AIR 2 functionality to update current AIR 1.0 applications. New AIR 2 features include enhanced support for mass storage devices and native application processes, as well as peer-to-peer and UDP networking.

Flash Player 10.1 is the first consistent browser runtime release of the Open Screen Project that will enable uncompromised Web browsing of expressive applications, content and high definition (HD) videos across the desktop and devices. Flash Player 10.1 takes advantage of new media delivery options using HTTP streaming coupled with content protection powered by Adobe® Flash® Access™ 2.0. Additionally, Flash Player 10.1 now leverages hardware decoding of H.264 video on Windows PCs, netbooks and mobile devices where available, to conserve battery life and deliver an exceptional video playback experience.

Here's a presentation of the multi-touch and gesture capabilities using AIR 2 and Flash Player 10.1. It looks interesting but based on the video it looks like this feature isn't snappy enough yet, it appears to be a bit too laggy to make it feel natural.