Multimedia
Newsletters
Blogs
Whitepapers
Events
DCP Directory
Mill Directory
Edit Calendar
Advertisers
Reader SurveyFields & Frames
Feb 1, 2006 12:00 PM, By Dan Ochiva
Got Flash? Well, Adobe does. Last month, the company finished its $3.4 billion acquisition of once archrival Macromedia, gaining access to that company's widely deployed Flash technology among other apps. Said to be the jewel of the acquisition, Flash is on the verge of breaking out big in the new multimedia world. It's also one of the few third-party software programs finding wide deployment in next generation cell phones. ▸ Flash, which is used in TiVo and airport kiosks, has made its way into cell phones from Nokia and Japan's NTT DoCoMo, which embedded Flash in all 27 of its handsets. ▸ Jim Guerard, Adobe's vice president for product management, web, and video platforms, agrees that momentum is building in the marketplace for new forms of content distribution. To support people's growing need to distribute their content via Flash video on the Web, Guerard says, speeding output from NLE is key. To that end, Premiere Pro 2, which debuted in January as part of Adobe's Production Studio package, now integrates direct Flash video output. ▸ While Adobe's established graphics and video products currently bring in about 70 percent of total revenues, these markets are starting to mature. Expect to see emphasis on two smaller, but quickly growing, business areas: Acrobat for enterprise electronic document management and Flash-based mobile, commercial, and consumer gear. ▸ Right now, Adobe's fiscals are strong, according to a December Business Week article. Sales grew 28 percent and 18 percent respectively in 2004 and 2005, with Adobe CEO Bruce Chizen given credit for his business insight. Chizen, for example, is said to have pushed the company towards offering integrative “suite” bundles over standalone programs. The marketing change has proved popular: Normally, sales dwindle soon after a new product release, but suites continue to sell at a regular clip. ▸ In recent interviews, Chizen spotted Microsoft as Adobes' single greatest competitor, and for good reason. At last year's Windows Hardware Engineering Conference (WinHEC), Microsoft took the wraps off Metro, its new XPS format, a layout and interchange standard set to debut later this year as part Vista and Office 12. ▸ XPS (XML Paper Specification), an interchange format similar to Acrobat and Postscript, has been dubbed the “PDF Killer.” Microsoft has touted the advantages of XPS over the older PDF format, including XPS' open nature as part of XML. ▸ However, blogger Ed Bott thinks that XPS will simply replace the old Enhanced Metafile (EMF) format with a new, smarter native format for printed output. Somewhat like MXF for video, XPS is a container specification for application data, according to Bott. ▸ So, will Adobe go mano a mano with Microsoft or not? Stay tuned.
