Adobe has always positioned itself as a common umbrella papering over the cracks between different operating systems. In the mobile world, it has been limited in this ambition by Apple's hostility, but it continues to extend its reach.
This week, it is introducing InMarket, a centralized distribution portal which spans app stores on Windows, Mac, Linux and most mobile platforms (including, of course, Apple iOS, after the firm's climbdown on barring Flash from its phones).
InMarket enables developers to market their Flash-based software across different devices via third party stores run by many Adobe retail partners, from PC makers to Intel to (potentially) operators.
According to Adobe, InMarket operates seamlessly in the device background, and users can download from any given store. Developers receive 70% of the revenue, as they do in direct stores, while Adobe and its retail partners split the rest and carry out the credit card processing, marketing and hosting. Individual agreements with partner stores may vary.
Developers register and create a publisher profile at InMarket and can then build and test programs using the InMarket software developers' kit (SDK). Adobe and its allies promise to validate all submissions within 10 days.
Also from Adobe, the AIR 2.5 runtime has been expanded to support a wider range of smartphones and tablets as well as PCs - including the new BlackBerry Tablet OS. The vendor says AIR enables developers to use Flash and Adobe Flex tools to create and distribute standalone applications across many platforms.
New features in release 2.5 include support for accelerometer, camera, video, microphone, multitouch, geolocation and gestures.
Vendors are signing up to preload AIR 2.5 into upcoming devices such as Acer PCs, HTC and Motorola smartphones, and most interestingly, the Samsung SmartTV.
This article originally appeared in Rethink Wireless