Promises new tools for creating e-reader apps

Adobe today formally introduced the Digital Publishing Platform, technology for both producing and reading publications meant for tablets, smartphones and other hardware. The Wired iPad app is cited as an initial example of the company's digital viewer software; while retaining much of the look of a print magazine, it includes a number of interactive and video elements, and the ability to browse contents via a zoomed-out mode. The interactivity extends to advertising, which like Apple's forthcoming iAd is intended to better lure people in while not forcing them to leave an app.

Said to be coming "soon" is software that will allow owners of InDesign CS5 to convert layouts into e-reader apps. The company has also laid out a broader roadmap, which should see new iPad magazine publishing technology this summer, and a multi-platform scheme by the fall. That season should also see updated News Reader and Reader Mobile SDKs, and by winter, Adobe expects to have v2.0 of the Digital Editions desktop e-book reader ready.

How exactly the InDesign software will work is unclear, since it is implied that apps like the Wired title can be developed with it. Apple's developer terms normally forbid using cross-compilers for iPad and iPhone apps; this is thought to have forced Adobe to help quickly rewrite the Wired app, since it was cross-compiled from Flash. Adobe confirms, however, that it is now using Objective-C and HTML5 to bypass Apple limitations.

By Electronista Staff

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