According to Wikipedia RIAs are "a cross between Web applications and traditional desktop applications, transferring some of the processing to the client end."

The essentials of RIAs are:

• - Accesibility - anywhere at anytime, even through your mobile phone
• - Low Costs - you don't need any expensive licenses
• - Enhanced Security - through server backups
• - Real Time Changes - visible to all users at any given moment in time

We feel like the main difference between traditional Internet applications and RIAs is that the latter uses a wider range of controls and interacts heavily with the browser in order to provide an extremely friendly user experience. Some examples such as Flickr, Basecamp or Google Maps can perhaps better define the term of RIA in less words.

What we do here at Around25 is take technologies such as Flash, Flex or JavaScript and use them to create RIAs that fit your needs best. The amount of interaction and the enhanced features we can provide make the most out of current browsers capabilities while maintain compatiblity with different versions.

Just think about inline editing, drag and drop, panning maps, interacting with animations, slick popups and information baloons and all these features are just part of what RIAs are all about. The goal is not to bug the user with annoying objects moving around the browser, but to provide the most information possible at the least mouse clicks.

If you have an idea for a Rich Internet Application to serve the needs of your organization or become a service available for all Internet users we are open for a discussion. Our experience can add that extra touch which makes the difference between something fun & easy to use and plain old boring desktop-like applications.