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Hard facts about Adobe’s software

Since then the company is best known for its publishing and web design software such as PhotoShop, Indesign and DreamWeaver. Its ubiquitous Flash multimedia platform was recently criticised by Steve Jobs, who said it would soon be obsolete. José R. De Souza catches up with Abdallah Saqqa, General Manager of Adobe MENA to find out more about Adobe’s core business, its forays into the world of mobile phone software.

VERY LITTLE IS known about Adobe’s software offering beyond the post popular programmes. Can you tell us more?

Adobe Systems develops software which allows its customers to produce unique and creative content and applications. Our world has increasingly become more visual and interactive, with a growing need to not just stand out, but to reach out to people and get them to think more creatively about the world around them.

Using Adobe System’s variety of software, photos and images can be enhanced, documents can be made more 3-dimentional and mobile applications mean you can take some of these new products wherever you go.

Most consumers are aware of products such as Photoshop and Illustrator, both a part of Adobe Creative Suite 5. However, we have a host of products that people may not be aware of such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3, a tool made for perfecting and presenting photographs. Lightroom allows a photographer to take great pictures and make them spectacular, by making colours sharper, enhancing their focus and by managing them in a dynamic slide show, video or Web gallery.

Acrobat, a tool that most people are only aware of for its PDF capabilities, now allows several people to collaborate on a single document at once via access from the pdf into a direct portal on adobe.com. This innovation allows colleagues and partners to access the same page from across the world, simultaneously.

Adobe Reader can also natively interact (meaning no third-party application or plug-in is required) with Flash to create rich and interactive documents. Users can even embed videos into document they produce.

In a world where content is king, Adobe Systems produces a multitude of software applications that merge creativity with professionalism to help consumers display their content in unique and dynamic ways and to ultimately interact with their audience.

Adobe has just joined the Microsoft Active Protections Programme (MAPP). How will your users benefit?

The MAPP programme is a first-of-its kind – consisting of a multitude of companies working collaboratively to provide a safer internet environment. Adobe Systems officially announced that, starting this fall, we will share our security information with MAPP in an effort to minimise the response time involved with addressing security threats.

Our membership in MAPP will ensure that, as before, the concerns of our customers are handled in a timely manner and that their risks are significantly reduced.

Adobe Reader has been called the world’s most exploited application. What is Adobe doing to fortify Reader against malicious attacks?

Adobe Reader is the only PDF file viewer which allows the user to interact with his PDF documents. Reader can also be used to collaborate, digitally sign, and search throughout the document. As such, the programme has become a global standard through which PDFs are accessed. In an effort to curb malicious attacks, Adobe Systems has employed a new technique in protecting information and software. This new method is called Sandboxing.

A sandbox is a security mechanism used to run an application in a confined execution environment. In the case of Adobe Reader, “sandboxing” (to be called “Protected Mode”) adds an additional layer of defense by containing malicious code inside PDF files within the Adobe Reader sandbox and preventing its installation on the user’s system.

The future is clearly mobile. What steps is Adobe taking to keep pace with mobile applications?

With the advent of mobile computing, people are now spending more time on their mobile devices than ever before. Keeping up with the times, Adobe Systems has released practical and accessible mobile applications so that users can continue to innovate — on the go. For example, there is already a sizeable ecosystem of Adobe System’s products on Apple’s AppStore, with apps such as Adobe Ideas, Photoshop, and Acrobat, for both the iPhone and iPad being downloaded frequently. Adobe Systems also has Reader available for Research In Motion’s BlackBerry smartphones, as well as Google’s Android platform.

Google’s Android OS 2.2 supports Flash, which is quite a significant development in light of Apple’s Steve Job’s recent criticism of the platform. Can consumers expect to see more mobile operating systems supporting Flash?

Users of Android based smartphones and other devices have started to receive Android 2.2 “Froyo” and Flash Player 10.1 updates. As we’ve stated in the past, upgrade paths for devices in market today depend on the specific device, manufacturer, operator and the region. Devices can be updated in numerous ways including content triggered downloads, system software updates and on-device app catalogs such as Android Market, Adobe Labs and other venues.

Smartphones like the HTC Evo or HTC Desire have started to receive Flash Player 10.1 as part of the Froyo update. We expect more devices like the DROID by Motorola, HTC Incredible, the Samsung Galaxy S, Motorola Milestone, Motorola DROID X and others to support Flash Player 10.1 in the following weeks.

Many new devices that ship with Android 2.2 in the future are expected to come pre-installed with full Flash. In addition to Android, mobile platforms including webOS, BlackBerry, MeeGo, LiMo, a future version of Windows Phone 7 and others will deliver support for Flash Player 10.1 over the coming months.

— josérdesouza@gmail.com

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