Adobe MAX 2008 Showcases Future of Digital Experiences
Conference to Highlight Innovations in Cloud, Client Computing, Devices and Desktops, and Social Computing
At its annual MAX conference today Adobe will unveil innovations that are shaping the future of 21st Century digital experiences and driving how people and businesses engage with information and ideas across multiple mediums and screens. Drawing 5,000 attendees from around the world, this year’s conference is the company’s largest MAX event to date.
Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and CTO Kevin Lynch will be joined on stage by a lineup of guest speakers, including Bud Albers, CTO of Disney Interactive Media Group; Michael Zimbalist, vice president of research and development operations at the New York Times Company; and Steve Fisher, senior vice president of the platform division at salesforce.com. Adobe is also announcing a strategic alliance with SAP. Additionally, new commitments announced today from ARM and Qualcomm reinforce Adobe’s growing influence in the future of mobile communications and devices.
“MAX has become the industry’s premier forum for the people who are shaping the future of the digital landscape,” said Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch. “This is the event that brings the worlds of design and development together to share ideas and learn about cutting-edge technologies. Our vision is to unleash the creative potential of the community by delivering the products, technologies and platform for next- generation digital experiences.”
Driving Innovation for a Changing World In his keynote this morning, Narayen will share his worldview of how changes in the economy, evolving demographics and shifting consumer behavior are raising expectations for technology. Consumers and businesses have moved from a single screen world, to a multi-screen experience with the lines between work and home disappearing.
Lynch will speak to the trends that are driving how people are connecting from wherever they are - whether it is on a PC, mobile device or television. He’ll explore the impact of these trends across three major areas of innovation: how software is developed and experienced across multiple screens; the impact of cloud computing on next-generation Web applications; and how the growth of social networking is transforming software development and the nature of digital experiences.
Ubiquitous Reach: The Adobe Flash Platform Today’s announcements underscore the rapid proliferation of the Adobe Flash Platform, powering new, engaging applications, content and video across operating systems and devices. According to independent research firm comScore, 81 percent of worldwide online videos are viewed using Adobe Flash technology, making it the number one format for video on the Web. This statistic, coupled with the fact that Adobe® Flash® Player software is already installed on 98 percent of Internet-connected desktops and a growing number of mobile devices, reassures content publishers that Adobe Flash content will reliably reach audiences on the operating system and device of their choice.
Product, Technology and Partner News at MAX 2008 Adobe made several announcements todayincluding:
- Adobe Flash Catalyst (formerly code-named “Thermo”), which improves design and developer workflows; “Gumbo,” the next version of Adobe® Flex® Builder™; availability of Adobe AIR™ 1.5; and a 64-bit Linux® version of Adobe Flash Player.
- An extended collaboration with SAP AG to help enterprises across the globe build richer business applications.
- Adobe Flash Player has shipped on more than 800 million mobile devices worldwide, one year ahead of schedule, and today onstage Adobe will preview Adobe Flash Player 10 (FP10) for smartphones.
- Adobe and ARM are announcing a technology collaboration to optimize and enable FP10 and AIR for ARM powered devices. The announcement is a result of the Open Screen Project.
- Qualcomm announced that it is making its SDK available for the new BREW Mobile Platform, fully integrating Adobe Flash.
- Adobe® Flash® Media Interactive Server 3.5 software and Adobe Flash media Streaming Server 3.5 software, two key components of the Adobe Flash Platform.
- Adobe is introducing a new Platform-as-a-Service, codenamed “Cocomo,” that lets developers easily add real-time social capabilities into RIAs via cloud computing. For more information, visit www.adobe.com
