Adobe to Compete with Online Tools Suite
Posted by jonathan at 8:41am EST on 06/02/2008
Last night, Adobe Systems Inc. launched a new suite of online productivity tools on their Acrobat.com property.
The first of those tools is called Buzzword. After logging in, this tool is a fairly basis document editor, such as Microsoft Word (for desktop) or Google Docs (online). Here is an example of what it looks like.
It’s not much to look at really, just some fancy doo-dads here and there. Some nifty sharing capability which you can read about further down in the review.
My impression: Meh, ok, let’s see what else Adobe has to offer with this new suite of tools.
Next up in the suite is a product called ConnectNow. This tool is a screen sharing utility which may come in very handy with the other tools in this suite.
First up was a document editor, now a screen sharing utility. Alright, cool. The suite is decently useful so far.
Oh and so you know, the screen sharing utility, ConnectNow, actually downloads and installs some software to your computer. It’s a flash application of some sort, but I don’t believe it is Adobe AIR.
This third tool on Acrobat.com is pretty straight forward. It’s a PDF converter tool which will allow you to convert documents from your desktop into PDFs, online.
There is an Acrobat trial desktop tool which will let you convert them directly on your desktop computer, but it likely costs money (hence the trial mode) and who wants to spend money just to convert PDF files, seriously.
Adobe – Create PDFs rating: 5 out of 10 Google Inside stars.
Fourth up to bat is Adobe Share. This is a, well, let’s call it a “module” of the suite, that lets you share files back and forth between users.
From what it says, it will let you easily maintain security and share your files while you still remain in control of the access. Alright, cool. I digg dig that. Makes the rest of the tools more useful since I can now share the content that I create with the other tools.
Let’s move on though to the last tool and see what the complete suite can offer consumers (or corporate).
Lastly we have My Files. This is as straight forward as it gets. This is the basic storage “module” that Acrobat.com offers to let you manage your files online and access them anywhere around the world.
So as a wrap up, let’s take a look at the overview of tools offered here.
Adobe Buzzword, the document editor; Adobe ConnectNow, the screen sharing utility; Adobe – Create PDFs, the PDF converter utility; Adobe Share, letting you easily and securely share files with other users; and Adobe My Files, letting you manage all of your files online.
Good set of tools? Looks like it to me. Seems like this has been an ace up the sleeve of Adobe for quite a while. Or….has it been? Below is a screenshot of http://forex.acrobat.com, what looks to be not a white-label version, but a corporate-specific version that let’s users within the organization use the system more easily.
We will probably see, very soon, a bigger push for company-specific versions of Acrobat.com now that they have released this suite of tools to the public.
[Hat tip to Adam Ostrow for the story]
