LiveCycle Data Services 3 is now in beta and available for download on Labs. Product Manager Anil Channappa has posted details on what's new in LCDS 3.

Acrobat.com has hosted Buzzword (a Flash based online word processor and collaboration tool) for a while now. And more Acrobat.com tools are on their way. Acrobat.com Labs is now offering sneak peeks at Tables (a spreadsheet) and Presentations (create presentations, duh!).

Adobe BrowserLab was first shown at the MAX 2008 sneaks session, and now you can try it for yourself. BrowserLab is an online service which provides web designers exact renderings of their web pages in multiple browsers and operating systems, on demand. Currently BrowserLab is available to a limited number of users as a free preview.

In conjunction with the public beta of Flash Builder 4, Adobe Developer Connection has published lots of new ColdFusion related content, including:

• Flash Builder 4 beta for ColdFusion developers
• Updated Flex for ColdFusion developers mini learning guide
• Getting started with ColdFusion and Flash Builder 4 beta
• Understanding the role of CFCs in Flex application development
• Binding ColdFusion data to Flex UI components with Adobe Flash Builder 4 beta
• Managing ColdFusion data with Adobe Flash Builder 4 beta
• Generating ColdFusion forms with Adobe Flash Builder 4 beta
• Deploying a Flex application with ColdFusion URL variables

Title says it all, public beta versions of Flash Builder 4 (formerly Flex Builder) and Flash Catalyst are now available for download on Adobe Labs.

Not sure how I missed this one, but ... AboutWeb's Phill Nacelli posted his rendition of Adobe Labs.

As announced in the MAX keynote this morning, Alchemy is a project that allows users to compile C and C++ code to run on the ActionScript Virtual Machine. With Alchemy, developers can now reuse hundreds of millions of lines of existing open source C and C++ client or server-side code on the Flash Platform. The C or C++ code is compiled to ActionScript as a SWF or SWC that runs on Flash Player 10 or AIR 1.5. And Alchemy is available now on Adobe Labs.

During the MAX keynote this morning I announced that we are working on an Eclipse based ColdFusion IDE codenamed "Bolt" to be released in conjunction with the next version of ColdFusion. More details to follow, but, visit Labs to request access to both Bolt and Centaur. Oh, and yes, the name "Bolt" pays homage to the original ColdFusion lightning bolt.

The beta of Flash Player 10 has been posted to Labs. New features include 3D visual effects, a new text rendering engine (which also supports right-to-left text), and more. Demos and videos have been posted, too.

LiveCycle Data Services 2.6 is now in public beta. The update includes better support for Flex 3, support for AIR offline storage and data management, improved performance, and more. And yes, it can be used with ColdFusion. You can get LCDS 2.6 beta from Labs.

The Share team has posted details about updates just released in version 1.3.5 of the Share service, including details of some of the new features and offerings being made available.

Title says is all. Go to Adobe Labs for the alpha version of the Linux AIR Player. We've also posted an update to the Flex Builder 3 for Linux alpha, adding support for AIR creation.

The AIR based Adobe Media Player (demonstrated at MAX 2007) is up on Labs for download.

The alpha of Flex Builder 3 for Linux is up on labs.

With the big announcement of the release of open source BlazeDS on Labs, ColdFusion users have been trying to figure out which option is better for them - the full LiveCycle Data Services (LCDS) which is included with ColdFusion 8, or the new open source BlazeDS option.

BlazeDS is, for the most part, a subset of the full LCDS. It supports remoting and messaging, and it can be used with ColdFusion. And it's free. However, BlazeDS does not support data management (including the data synchronization functionality) which is one of the most appealing aspects of LCDS for ColdFusion users.

ColdFusion 8 can be installed with an embedded LCDS engine. If a license is provided then it is a full LCDS implementation, otherwise it is LCDS Express which has a single CPU license restriction.

So, should ColdFusion users stick with the integrated LCDS or use the new open-source BlazeDS?

If all you need is messaging (the ability to push from ColdFusion to the client), then BlazeDS may be a better option, if for no other reason than there is no license to worry about. But, if data management is important then LCDS is the better option.

We've been busy! AIR Beta 3 is on Labs, and here is a post that describes what's new in beta 3.

Title says it all. We just posted the latest (and final) beta of Flex Builder 3 on Labs.

BlazeDS is an open source Java remoting and web messaging technology that enables developers to easily connect to back-end distributed data and push data in real-time to Flex and AIR applications. Previously these were only available as part of LiveCycle Data Services, and today we announced that BlazeDS will be released under the LGPL v3, and along with it we'll also be releasing the specification for AMF (on which Remoting is built). BlazeDS is now on Labs, and Christophe Coenraets has posted lots of details.

"Brio" is the codename for the preview of the next generation of Adobe Acrobat Connect. Brio is a web meeting service built with collaboration in mind for individual professionals and small businesses. With Brio, you can instantly communicate and collaborate through an easy-to-use, easy-to-access online personal meeting room. And Brio is now on Labs.

Rob Christensen (Senior Product Manager for Adobe AIR, nee Apollo) has written an article highlighting six must-see AIR applications.

Last week I mentioned that CF8 public beta downloads had already exceeded our expectations. I was looking at updated stats yesterday, and the downloads numbers are now significantly higher than when I made that post. That's phenomenal! But I also noticed something else of interest - of the versions downloaded thus far, here is the platform breakdown: Windows 76%, Mac 16%, Linux 7%. That Windows number is pretty consistent with ColdFusion use in general, but the Mac number is far greater than what we've seen before, and is great to see.

Here is some more information about the first public beta release of Flex 3 (now available on Adobe labs), the first major deliverable for the open source Flex project (including a public bug base, and the beginning of public nightly builds) ...

Some of the new features in Flex Builder 3 are:

• Built-in support for the new Adobe Integrated Runtime (formerly Apollo)
• Code re-factoring
• Memory and performance profilers
• SWF file size reduction using a persistent framework cache in Flash Player
• Advanced datagrid (this is the one I've been eagerly awaiting)
• CS3 and Flex integration
• Web service introspection

Create an AIR (formerly Apollo) application, enter it into the Adobe AIR Developer Derby, and you could win the trip of a lifetime - a travel certificate valued at up to US$100,000, to be used for the travel of your choice! Other cool prizes too. Details online.

Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), formerly known as Apollo, is a cross-operating system runtime that allows developers to use their existing web development skills to build and deploy rich Internet applications to the desktop. And you can get it right now on Labs.

Yep, the Flex 3 beta is now available for download from Labs.