Apollo Alpha Launched
Adobe has launched their Apollo platform finally (in Alpha). Apollo is a cross-OS runtime that allows developers to leverage their existing web development skills (Flash, Flex, HTML, Ajax) to build and deploy desktop RIA’s.

Many basically say Apollo = Flash Player + Acrobat Reader * HTML/JS . A very cool project indeed with MUCH potential. This can be use in applications such as web mail and collaboration apps that can be used off-line and sync with their online counterparts with ease. (Think of Basecamp or Gmail that you can use also when you’re not online.)

Find out and download it at the Adobe Labs

Check out the Apollo Wiki Docs

Dekoh: Competition
There are also competition as this looks like it is going to be a very popular market soon. One of them is called Dekoh which has a slightly different approach and is fully Java based. Here is a detailed comparison between Apollo and Dekoh

Joyent Slingshot
Another potential competitor in the space is Joyent with its new Slingshot platform. Though slingshot is a bit different as it is focused on Rails apps.

They’ve made it easy to take an existing rails app and have it run in its own contained runtime on a users desktop. They use their own proprietary technology but it looks really cool and seems like an excellent opportunity to take many of the great Rails apps out there off-line with you.