However, out of the two updates, it's Adobe AIR 2 that received the biggest overhaul. The new runtime allows developers to create entirely new types of applications that simply weren't possible using AIR 1. What sort of apps are those? Adobe's gallery of sample apps should give you some ideas of what's to come.

In Adobe AIR 2, apps can now detect when a mass storage device has been inserted into the computer. That means the app can "see" your USB flash drives, external drives, and even some digital cameras. For example, developers could build an app that recognizes when your Flip camera is plugged in and lets you automatically upload videos to YouTube.

To demo this capability, Adobe has released FileTile, a sample app that does just this (minus the video uploading). FileTile recognizes external devices and lets you see the files and open them with their default application.

Download Installer | Source

2. Native Process API

The native process API allows developers to better integrate their AIR apps with existing code libraries or extend their apps using native code. With the new native process API, this can now be done without compromising the cross-platform capabilities of AIR which allows it to run on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Developers using this new functionality can now deploy their apps with operating-specific installers like .exe, .dmg, .rpm, and .deb instead of an .air installer file.

To demonstrate the native process API, Adobe released SearchCentral, an application that taps into Mac OS X's Spotlight feature for desktop searches. It also lets you do web searches on Google and Wikipedia.

Installer | Source | How to

Here's a video explaining in more detail how the native API works:

3. Microphone Data Access

Like it sounds, the microphone data access feature lets you acquire the sound data from a computer's microphone without the need of a server. For example, a developer could build a note-taking application that lets users record audio clips even when they're offline.

To get started, a simple app called Microphone is now available which does recording and playback with variable playback speeds supported.

Download Installer | Source | How to

4. Drag-and-Drop Support for Remote Files

The new "file promises" feature of AIR 2 lets you drag remote files out of an AIR application. A file promise, as described by Adobe's Christian Cantrell, is "what you put on the clipboard when you want the user to be able to drag and drop files that do not yet exist, or that exist elsewhere (not locally on your machine)." It's a promise to deliver a file at some point, but not an actual file.

For example, an app could generate a CSV file but only when a user tries to drag and drop the file. It could also refer to files on a remote server, like an FTP server. When a user grabs that remote file and pulls it into the AIR app, the app could then download the data. It even supports files accessible via a URL like those hosted on Google Sites.

Unfortunately, this feature is Windows and Mac only.

A sample app called S3E provides a graphical front-end to your Amazon S3 account to demonstrate this feature.

Download Installer | Source | How to

5. Peer-to-Peer Networking Capabilities

Adobe AIR 2 also adds support for new networking capabilities including UDP, secure sockets and peer-to-peer. To demonstrate the possibilities, Adobe released KeePIPE, a javascript app that lets users on the same network share files using peer-to-peer technology. It also lets VMWare users transfer files between a virtual machine and a host computer.

Download Installer | Source | Read me

6. Multi-Touch

Perhaps the most exciting enhancement in AIR 2 and in Flash Player 10.1 are the new multi-touch APIs. In Windows 7, AIR apps can respond to multi-touch and in both Windows 7 and Mac OS X Snow Leopard, they can respond to gestures.

In this video (below), Adobe's Kevin Lynch demos a multi-touch app on an HP TouchSmart computer:

Obviously, Adobe is excited about this new feature, too, because they've released not one but four sample applications that demonstrate multi-touch in action:

• GeoTest: Lets you move images around the screen using a built-in physics engine. Download Installer | Source
• PhotoPhysics: A multi-touch app with a built-in physics engine. Download Installer | Source
• SpriteFract: A multi-touch app with a built-in physics engine that demonstrates a mouse-compatible, direct-manipulation interface. It also uses PixelBender to asynchronously process a large amount of geometry data. Download Installer | Source
• TouchTest: Lets you drag, scale, and rotate images on the screen. Download Installer | Source

Other Features

Other features in Adobe AIR 2 include the following (courtesy of Rob Christensen):

• A new API lets you open documents with its default application
• Global error handling
• Enhanced printing support, including vector printing support on Mac and new APIs to query the local machine for a list of printers or print without a dialog box.
• WebKit in AIR 2 is now based on the version shipped with Safari 4.0.3 which includes support for JavaScript profiling, SquirrelFish Extreme JavaScript engine performs 50% faster using SunSpider tests, CSS3 Module support (2D transformations, transitions, animations, gradients, zoom and WebKit CSS selectors), styling scrollbars via CSS and Canvas enhancements.
• IPv6 format addresses can now be used with all APIs that accept an IP string as input.
• Increased maximum size of NativeWindow: AIR 2 apps can have a window size of 4095 x 4095 where before the maximum was 2880 x 2880.
• DNS lookup
• Network interface enumeration
• Database transaction savepoints
• Screen reader support in Windows
• IME API and IME text input enhancement
• Smaller runtime installer sizes
• More efficient CPU usage and reduced memory size

So why give it a second look? One reason: attention to detail. Most noticeable is an obvious concern for the aesthetic of the product. You get the idea that look and feel are important to the company when you first land at the Survs site - and that thoughtful design continues throughout the product from the survey composition tool to the reporting features.

But that's not the only detail to which Survs pays attention. The site leverages AJAX to make the survey creation process easier on the builder. No more saving and refreshing to see changes. Just double click and type. Survs saves everything on the fly. A small - and seemingly insignificant - touch that vastly improves the speed with which one can compose a survey.

Another example of "attention to detail" can be found in the look and feel of the surveys themselves. Themes and templates allow users to customize the colors of the simple and well-designed surveys, as expected. But what was unexpected was the option to edit the language of the survey down to the "Next" buttons.

Finally, Survs offers the option to run surveys through multiple channels at the same time. For example, you could send a survey out by email, embed it in a page, and link to it from somewhere else. Each channel can be monitored separately to determine the most effective means of interactive with your audience.

Now, the downside. Survs is currently in private beta for a reason. It's fragile. The server tended to choke while we were performing some basic functions. And survey embeds failed on a couple of occasions. But some of that fragility may stem from the fact that we're accessing Survs from the United States. (It will be interesting to hear if our European readers experience similar issues in reaching this Portuguese company.)

Suffice it to say, we wouldn't recommend using it for "mission critical" surveys at this point.

If you're already in love with a survey tool, Survs may not dissuade you from using it. But if you're new to the world of online surveys or have never really settled on a solution, Survs could be exactly what you're seeking.

Survs is currently in private beta. But, they have given ReadWriteWeb readers an access code to register for the service. Simply visit the registration page and enter the code F6W6HGOD. The offer is limited to the first 500 people, first come, first served.

Now, you could have the chance to help influence where Snackr goes in the future by joining the Snackr beta program.

When Marshall initially reviewed the product, however, he did have a few enhancement requests, like bulk feed management and a bookmarklet. In essence, he served as a beta tester. Now you can play a similar role - officially.

Narciso Jaramillo, the developer behind Snackr, is rolling out the official beta group in conjunction with the test release of Snackr v.0.39, which includes some new features - like always showing the most current item across all feeds, autostart, and separating Snackr from the Windows taskbar - in addition to a number of bug fixes.

Users of all experience levels are needed for the beta group, from complete novice to daily users. Participants must be willing test new builds and respond to surveys about features and functionality. To apply, complete the Snackr beta list signup form.

You can fine the new beta at beta.citysearch.com.

More Local

Besides giving the service a cleaner and more modern look, Citysearch also retooled the back-end to allow users to perform more granular searches. While the old Citysearch was only focused on 140 metropolitan areas, the new version allows you to drill down to the neighborhood level.

Social

The new version of Citysearch puts more emphasis on the social experience by highlighting reviews from your Facebook friends while browsing through reviews. Besides making the sign-in easier for new users, Citysearch now also allows you to publish your updates on the service to your Facebook profile. On the service itself, setting up a profile has now become easier, though you can't really do too much with these profiles besides adding your profile picture.

Users can now also vote reviews up or down, which is a nice feature, given that some reviews can be blatantly biased.

The update also puts more emphasis on professionally produced videos of local establishments. The new player, which is provided by BrightCove, allows for wide-screen HD playback, which is a nice upgrade from the old version.

Mobile

Early next year, Citysearch will start to allow users to upload their own photos and videos to the service. Citysearch also expects to release a native iPhone application around the same time, though for now, the updated mobile site is already quite useful.

Overall, this is a nice update to Citysearch and puts the service back on par with its competitors. In the mobile market, however, review services like Yelp or discovery services like Whrll have a head-start and it will be interesting to see if Citysearch's mobile site can compete with these.

Mozilla details the new features in their post, but we'll hit the high points on what the new build includes.

Fresh on the heels of the Geode announcement, comes the news that Firefox 3.1 beta 1 has incorporated the Geolocation API into the browser. And that exposes some interesting functionality to developers.

With support for the W3C draft specification of the Geolocation API - an API that "provides scripted access to geographical location information associated with the hosting device" - baked into the browser, it now makes it feasible for developers to build applications that can access location-based information from other devices, like GPS.

How would that work? Mozilla provides an example:

"The Geolocation API in Firefox 3.1 exposes a single API to web developers, but can potentially be backed by a number of different location sources. Examples include the Skyhook service, which guesses your location based on nearby access points, a GPS device in your mobile computer or hand-setting a fixed location where your desktop lives."

Benefits? In today's mobile world, it's all about location, location, location.

@font-face

Native @font-face support will enable greater typographic control by Web designers. With this feature, designers will be able to specify true-type fonts as part of their Web design - freeing them from the constraints of Arial, Times New Roman, and the like.

How will Web users benefit? Aesthetics, for one. For designers, this could mean a whole new crop of interesting and accessible Web design.

Support for <audio> and <video> elements, XHR, and More

According to the specifics from Mozilla, Firefox 3.1 beta 1 also incorporates support for <audio> and <video> elements, which promises to make embedding audio and video easier for end users.

In a day and age where video and audio are a much a part of the Web experience as text, this could streamline the ability to share this content, without having to wrestle the dreaded <object> code.

The build also features XHR Progress Notification - "a better way to get progress notifications for XML HTTP Requests" - and XHR Cross-site Access Control which "offers the ability for servers, content and web clients to cooperate to make a lot of new things possible on an opt-in basis."

Feature Rich for Richer Applications

All in all, the Firefox 3.1 beta 1 appears to incorporate a number of features for which developers and designers have been asking. Now that they have access to the features, we can only wait patiently to see what they're capable of making Firefox do.

"I was struck by how one-sided the process was: the primary feedback from readers came in the form of sales figures," he told us. "This time, I wanted something more interactive, and the Kindle seems like a breakthrough."

Oran decided that for his sophomore novel, "Believe," he would do what he knew from the software world: he was would run a beta test. The problem was how to easily share a novel length manuscript with people willing to read it and give him feedback. Sharing content on the web has long been possible, but reading anything longer than a couple of pages on a computer screen is painful, and downloading and printing a few hundred pages isn't something most people are willing to do either.

Print on demand self publishers like Lulu offered Oran a way to publish beta print versions of his book, but they were not economical for readers (a 300-page, perfect bound paperback book has a Lulu base price of $10.53) and offer no easy way to collect feedback from readers.

Amazon's Kindle (see our full review) seemed like the perfect solution for Oran's online book beta test. Not only does the Kindle making reading an electronic book far easier on the reader, but it offers Oran a way to cheaply distribute the beta version of his manuscript to readers -- he's charging $.99 for the Kindle edition of "Believe."

Because Amazon's sales pages include reader feedback features (like a message board and reviews), Oran is also using the site to solicit and gather thoughts from early readers. "This is a publishing experiment, made possible by the new Amazon Kindle," Oran informs readers on the book's sales page. "I hope you'll give it a try, then share your feedback in an Amazon review."

Oran classifies the book as a "late beta" -- "just about ready for the bookstore" -- and after gathering feedback from brave beta readers, he plans to go the traditional publishing route once more and get "Believe" on store shelves. "But, with Kindle, I think there's a new first step available, involving the writer and the reader in a conversation that couldn't have taken place in quite this way even a few months ago," he said.

During the beta period, all proceeds from the book will be donated to the Neediest Cases Fund, which last year raised over $4 million to help families and individuals in distress in New York City.