There’s a ton of news out tonight about Adobe’s new Apollo, beta ships tomorrow. This developer toolset lets Web developers build apps that work like desktop apps. It has a new name, too: Adobe Integrated Runtime, or “AIR.”

But, don’t miss the fact that Apollo apps no longer require Flash. They can be built totally in Ajax/JavaScript/HTML.

Now, why would Adobe want to do that? Well, they are positioning Apollo as the best way to build offline Web apps.

But I am putting another theory out there. If Steve Jobs isn’t putting third-party runtimes into the iPhone (as has been widely reported), how else will Adobe help its designers/developers get apps onto the iPhone?

Hmmmm.

PS: I’m not saying this theory is correct, but this is one of the first things I’m going to try when I get my hands on the iPhone. If it comes true that Flashless Apollo apps will run on the iPhone, then watch for this to be a cool way for developers to get offline apps onto the iPhone.

Hey, AIR could also stand for “Adobe IPhone Runtime.” 🙂