Adobe AIR Coming In Televisions, Mobile Devices and Desktops
At Adobe MAX, Adobe's worldwide developer conference, Adobe today announced Adobe AIR 2.5 software for televisions, tablets, smartphones and desktop operating systems.
A key element of the Adobe Flash Platform, AIR enables developers to leverage existing code to create and deliver standalone applications across devices and platforms. Adobe AIR now supports smartphones and tablets based on BlackBerry Tablet OS, Android, iOS, and desktops including Windows, Macintosh and Linux operating systems. In addition, Samsung will be the first television manufacturer to integrate support for Adobe AIR 2.5 in Samsung SmartTVs while Acer, HTC, Motorola, RIM, Samsung and others are expected to ship the runtime pre-installed on a variety of devices including tablets and smartphones later this year and early 2011.
With Adobe AIR, developers are able to use familiar tools including Adobe Flash Professional CS5, Adobe Flash Builder and Flex to build standalone applications. Hundreds of them are already available on Android Market, Intel AppUp center and Apple?s App Store today. In addition to AIR 2.5, Adobe also unveiled Adobe InMarket today, a new service that allows developers to distribute and sell their applications across different device types on app stores from Acer, Intel, and others. Adobe InMarket operates in the background and allows end users to download applications directly from the storefront. For more information visit Adobe InMarket.
AIR 2.5 enables rich application experiences through a series of new features, including support for accelerometer, camera, video, microphone, multi-touch and gestures. Support for geo location allows developers to create location-based applications and services. AIR 2.5 is also able to display native-browser controls within the application allowing for the integration of HTML and .SWF content. With SQLite support, developers can store and cache databases inside an AIR application. In addition, hardware acceleration for Adobe AIR is enabled across all major silicon partners including Broadcom Corporation, Intel, NVIDIA, ST Microelectronics, Trident, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm and others.
Flash Player 10.1
Already one of the top free apps on Android Market, Flash Player 10.1 brings Flash based content to mobile devices inside the browser. The runtime is now certified on close to a dozen Android devices and will become available on dozens more over the coming weeks and months. Adobe also announced that Flash Player 10.1 was downloaded more than 2 million times from Android Market. In addition to Android Market, the runtime is distributed directly by device manufacturers and operators via pre-installs and operating system upgrades. Flash Player 10.1 is available on Android and Google TV today, with BlackBerry platform, HP webOS 2.0, future versions of Windows Phone, LiMo, MeeGo, and Symbian OS also expected to support Flash Player 10.1. For a list of devices supported today, visit Adobe Flash Player 10.1 certified devices.
Flash Platform Tools
Adobe also announced previews of developer tools that make the process of multiscreen development more streamlined. With new releases of Flash Platform tools, including an AIR 2.5 software development kit (SDK), developers can build mobile and multiscreen applications for smartphones, tablets and televisions, while maximizing design and development productivity. An update to the open source Flex framework provides developers with a common framework for building Web, desktop and now mobile applications. Developers can build standalone mobile Flex applications with the same ease and quality as on Web and desktop platforms. For details visit http://www.adobe.com/go/flexsdk_preview/.
A preview release of Adobe Flash Builder adds capabilities for developers to build applications using familiar languages, components and tools, which help lower the cost of developing multiscreen applications. New features include creating and extending Flex applications for mobile devices, on-device debugging, coding tools to accelerate development, support for new Spark components in Flex and more.
Adobe AIR 2.5 and the Adobe AIR 2.5 SDK for Android and desktop operating systems including Windows, Macintosh and Linux are available today. The BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK for Adobe AIR, which works with the Adobe AIR 2.5 SDK to create applications for the BlackBerry Tablet OS, is available today from RIM while the runtime is expected to ship preloaded on the BlackBerry PlayBook.
New Digital Publishing Suite
At MAX, Adobe also today announced the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, providing publishers a set services and viewer technology to create, publish, optimize and sell digital content direct to consumers, through content retailers or leading mobile marketplaces. Built on the foundation of Adobe Creative Suite and Adobe InDesign CS5 software, the Digital Publishing Suite enables the design and delivery of publisher-branded reading experiences, paired with flexible commerce models and support for deep analytics reporting.
Using InDesign CS5, PDF, HTML5 and the Digital Publishing Suite, publishers will be able to author both fixed and adaptive layouts, natively build new levels of interactivity directly in InDesign, distribute and monetize their digital editions, and optimize their editorial and advertising content for a complete end-to-end digital publishing workflow.
The Digital Publishing Suite includes enterprise-level services and viewer technology:
- The Digital Publishing Suite will support the Adobe Content Viewer for Adobe AIR and iOS that can be fully publisher-branded to support reading experiences on tablet devices, such as the Blackberry PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy, Apple iPad and the many Android-based devices expected to come to market soon. Minimal chrome, innovative navigation features such as the zoomed out "browse mode" and dual-axis navigation allow readers to engage with content in new and exciting ways.
- Production Service: Upload articles directly from InDesign CS5 into a hosted service in which publishers can collaborate on design, assemble final content in the correct order, add issue and article metadata and preview the complete issue as it will appear in final published form on the desktop and tablet devices. The Production Service will support a range of file formats, including PDF and HTML5.
- Distribution Service: Securely store, host and distribute digital content across leading tablet devices and desktops for broad reach and audience access. Publishers can manage content available for fulfillment from within a library content dashboard, including publication metadata and archival as well as notify readers within the Content Viewer when a new magazine issue is available for purchase or download.
- E-commerce Service: Leverage flexible payment and merchandising models with the ability to monetize content directly, through retailer platforms or mobile marketplaces such as the Blackberry App World, Android Market, Google Apps Marketplace or Apple App Store. Publishers can create merchandising programs such as print and digital content bundles and enable readers to purchase content directly from within the magazine application on their device. Direct publisher e-commerce support for interoperability will allow readers to purchase content once and read it on their desktop or tablet devices.
- Analytics Service: Gain customer insights to better optimize editorial content and drive higher advertising monetization using online analytics from Adobe SiteCatalyst, powered by Omniture. Publishers can access prebuilt dashboards directly from within the hosted publishing workflow to view key advertising and subscriber data including total ad views, issue download and purchase metrics and engagement with interactive content such as video. Valuable viewer-profile analytics can supplement traditional offline point-ofâsale (POS) data to build a more comprehensive understanding of an individual subscriber. Drill-down reporting and analytics are available through a separate Adobe SiteCatalyst subscription. Additional dashboard and reports can be custom tailored to meet a publisher?s unique business goals.
The Digital Publishing Suite is expected to be available in Q2 2011 and offers both a Professional and Enterprise Edition. Pricing for the Professional Edition is expected to be US$699 per month plus a per-issue fee, which scales with publisher volume. The Professional Edition price allows publishers to access the Digital Publishing Suite and create applications for all of their titles and publications. The Enterprise Edition is a custom, multi-year platform agreement that includes access to APIs for integration of back-end publishing services such as subscription management, print fulfillment and e-commerce. Adobe also offers professional services to support enterprise level custom engagements.
With Adobe AIR, developers are able to use familiar tools including Adobe Flash Professional CS5, Adobe Flash Builder and Flex to build standalone applications. Hundreds of them are already available on Android Market, Intel AppUp center and Apple?s App Store today. In addition to AIR 2.5, Adobe also unveiled Adobe InMarket today, a new service that allows developers to distribute and sell their applications across different device types on app stores from Acer, Intel, and others. Adobe InMarket operates in the background and allows end users to download applications directly from the storefront. For more information visit Adobe InMarket.
AIR 2.5 enables rich application experiences through a series of new features, including support for accelerometer, camera, video, microphone, multi-touch and gestures. Support for geo location allows developers to create location-based applications and services. AIR 2.5 is also able to display native-browser controls within the application allowing for the integration of HTML and .SWF content. With SQLite support, developers can store and cache databases inside an AIR application. In addition, hardware acceleration for Adobe AIR is enabled across all major silicon partners including Broadcom Corporation, Intel, NVIDIA, ST Microelectronics, Trident, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm and others.
Flash Player 10.1
Already one of the top free apps on Android Market, Flash Player 10.1 brings Flash based content to mobile devices inside the browser. The runtime is now certified on close to a dozen Android devices and will become available on dozens more over the coming weeks and months. Adobe also announced that Flash Player 10.1 was downloaded more than 2 million times from Android Market. In addition to Android Market, the runtime is distributed directly by device manufacturers and operators via pre-installs and operating system upgrades. Flash Player 10.1 is available on Android and Google TV today, with BlackBerry platform, HP webOS 2.0, future versions of Windows Phone, LiMo, MeeGo, and Symbian OS also expected to support Flash Player 10.1. For a list of devices supported today, visit Adobe Flash Player 10.1 certified devices.
Flash Platform Tools
Adobe also announced previews of developer tools that make the process of multiscreen development more streamlined. With new releases of Flash Platform tools, including an AIR 2.5 software development kit (SDK), developers can build mobile and multiscreen applications for smartphones, tablets and televisions, while maximizing design and development productivity. An update to the open source Flex framework provides developers with a common framework for building Web, desktop and now mobile applications. Developers can build standalone mobile Flex applications with the same ease and quality as on Web and desktop platforms. For details visit http://www.adobe.com/go/flexsdk_preview/.
A preview release of Adobe Flash Builder adds capabilities for developers to build applications using familiar languages, components and tools, which help lower the cost of developing multiscreen applications. New features include creating and extending Flex applications for mobile devices, on-device debugging, coding tools to accelerate development, support for new Spark components in Flex and more.
Adobe AIR 2.5 and the Adobe AIR 2.5 SDK for Android and desktop operating systems including Windows, Macintosh and Linux are available today. The BlackBerry Tablet OS SDK for Adobe AIR, which works with the Adobe AIR 2.5 SDK to create applications for the BlackBerry Tablet OS, is available today from RIM while the runtime is expected to ship preloaded on the BlackBerry PlayBook.
New Digital Publishing Suite
At MAX, Adobe also today announced the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, providing publishers a set services and viewer technology to create, publish, optimize and sell digital content direct to consumers, through content retailers or leading mobile marketplaces. Built on the foundation of Adobe Creative Suite and Adobe InDesign CS5 software, the Digital Publishing Suite enables the design and delivery of publisher-branded reading experiences, paired with flexible commerce models and support for deep analytics reporting.
Using InDesign CS5, PDF, HTML5 and the Digital Publishing Suite, publishers will be able to author both fixed and adaptive layouts, natively build new levels of interactivity directly in InDesign, distribute and monetize their digital editions, and optimize their editorial and advertising content for a complete end-to-end digital publishing workflow.
The Digital Publishing Suite includes enterprise-level services and viewer technology:
- The Digital Publishing Suite will support the Adobe Content Viewer for Adobe AIR and iOS that can be fully publisher-branded to support reading experiences on tablet devices, such as the Blackberry PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy, Apple iPad and the many Android-based devices expected to come to market soon. Minimal chrome, innovative navigation features such as the zoomed out "browse mode" and dual-axis navigation allow readers to engage with content in new and exciting ways.
- Production Service: Upload articles directly from InDesign CS5 into a hosted service in which publishers can collaborate on design, assemble final content in the correct order, add issue and article metadata and preview the complete issue as it will appear in final published form on the desktop and tablet devices. The Production Service will support a range of file formats, including PDF and HTML5.
- Distribution Service: Securely store, host and distribute digital content across leading tablet devices and desktops for broad reach and audience access. Publishers can manage content available for fulfillment from within a library content dashboard, including publication metadata and archival as well as notify readers within the Content Viewer when a new magazine issue is available for purchase or download.
- E-commerce Service: Leverage flexible payment and merchandising models with the ability to monetize content directly, through retailer platforms or mobile marketplaces such as the Blackberry App World, Android Market, Google Apps Marketplace or Apple App Store. Publishers can create merchandising programs such as print and digital content bundles and enable readers to purchase content directly from within the magazine application on their device. Direct publisher e-commerce support for interoperability will allow readers to purchase content once and read it on their desktop or tablet devices.
- Analytics Service: Gain customer insights to better optimize editorial content and drive higher advertising monetization using online analytics from Adobe SiteCatalyst, powered by Omniture. Publishers can access prebuilt dashboards directly from within the hosted publishing workflow to view key advertising and subscriber data including total ad views, issue download and purchase metrics and engagement with interactive content such as video. Valuable viewer-profile analytics can supplement traditional offline point-ofâsale (POS) data to build a more comprehensive understanding of an individual subscriber. Drill-down reporting and analytics are available through a separate Adobe SiteCatalyst subscription. Additional dashboard and reports can be custom tailored to meet a publisher?s unique business goals.
The Digital Publishing Suite is expected to be available in Q2 2011 and offers both a Professional and Enterprise Edition. Pricing for the Professional Edition is expected to be US$699 per month plus a per-issue fee, which scales with publisher volume. The Professional Edition price allows publishers to access the Digital Publishing Suite and create applications for all of their titles and publications. The Enterprise Edition is a custom, multi-year platform agreement that includes access to APIs for integration of back-end publishing services such as subscription management, print fulfillment and e-commerce. Adobe also offers professional services to support enterprise level custom engagements.
