Adobe Systems today released its cross-platform Adobe Media Player (AMP) as a free download.

The software, which was written with the company’s offline web apps platform Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR), plays Flash-only web videos on Macs or PCs and works as an online and offline application.

Adobe said it has inked deals with a number of players in the entertainment industry including CBS, PBS, MTV Networks and Universal Music Group. Video content from those suppliers can then either be streamed or downloaded by anyone using AMP.

Adobe’s “free” service will pick up revenues via ads embedded into the video – YouTube has recently been grappling with a similar biz model.

The California-based firm has also tied in the option for publishers and producers to place tight controls on their media via Adobe’s digital rights management (DRM) server which was launched mid-March.

Usefully, for enthusiastic marketers – if not for the privacy lobby – it also offers “next generation offline monetisation and branding options” which “can provide content publishers with anonymous measurement of content usage data”.

Adobe’s arrival on the increasingly crowded media player scene is the company’s latest push to plump up revenues from the web apps space, where the likes of Google and Microsoft have recently been making plenty of noise. ®