So by now I am sure everyone has heard that Apollo was released on Adobe Labs, if by some chance you haven't, then go ahead and download it!

Personally I think this is a huge announcements, so I didn't mind that just about every feed in my aggregator this week pointing me to the Labs site, I am sure Adobe has received its share of traffic. We here at Maybe, are very excited about this release as it gives us the ability to take our knowledge of Flash and Web technologies to the desktop. We have previously built desktop applications, obviously without Apollo, and have had great success with these, but it is nice to now have the synergies of being able to take a web app and move it to the desktop or vice versa. Tie this with the fact that we can build applications that are only occasionally connected, and react differently based upon this, have ties into the OS / System level, can auto update themselves, etc... and the possibilities of ideas become endless. We already have several Apollo applications in the works, so will be posting about some of our experiences as well as case studies of these applications as soon as they are released.

For now though I would like to talk about my current favorite Apollo application. I am talking about Finetune, developed by the guys at Teknision. Basically borrowing from the Finetune site, Finetune's is

"A revolutionary online music service where you can discover new music, create playlists, and organize your favorite artists and albums using descriptive tags. FREE unlimited listening with no download or subscription required."

Finetunes has done a great job of bringing a web based application to the desktop. Honestly I think Finetunes is a great example of an application that has had amazing success moving across multiple platforms (they also released a Wii version a few months ago). Why such success? Honestly I think this all has to do with the UX design. They have done a great job of taking into consideration each medium, and have put a lot of thought into how each one will have its own unique use. The website, has a websiteish feel, while the Apollo app feels very much like a desktop application, and the Wii application is an excellent example of a "living room" application. Each borrowing elements from each other, but each focusing on what the main goal or experience the user will need / want when interacting with each of them separately. And they have even married the two together, so if you are running the Apollo app and come across a site that has a Finetune player in it, they can work together, thus enhancing the overall experience for the user. You can find out more information about this on Teknision's blog, as can download the application here.

This is a direction that I think things are heading, and defiantly where Maybe.For.You is positioning itself for future growth. The convergence between the web, desktop, and mobile devices should only continue to grow, and I think the fact that we can leverage the same core technologies between all three is a great thing. So congrats Adobe on the Alpha release of Apollo! I can't wait to see what you have in store for us next, and what we begin to create with the tools that you provide!