Adobe CS6 for hire

Adobe is allowing users of it's Creative Suite v6 (CS6) to 'rent' the software for $49 per month instead of purchasing it outright. A user can download a single copy for both Mac and Windows (currently this generally requires 2 licenses) and both are included in the rental price. If the user is upgrading from an earlier version (from v3 to v5.5) then the rental price is only $29.99 per month. Of course it's still possible to purchase the full suite for $2,600 which is around 5 years rental (by which time there's bound to be an upgrade). This also links into Adobe's Creative Cloud which offers tools like Photoshop Touch (the on-line version of Photoshop) and allows sharing of content.

Adobe CS5 support for iPhone

It seems Adobe's CS5 will support developing Flash programs using Actionscript for iPhone.

Though Apple are still refusing to allow the Flash player to run on the iPhone allowing Flash programs to be downloaded from the web, the CS5 version seems to combine the Flash player and the program into a standalone executable so it operates as a program suitable for use on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The system will also allow existing Flash programs to be packaged into an executable.

Adobe are releasing beta versions of CS5 shortly.

RIM to Flash soon

RIM has joined Adobe's Open Screen Project (along with Google and 50 others) and have announced they are jointly developing Flash for the Blackberry phones.

This is in-line with Adobe's push to get Flash player 10.1 onto most smart phones by the end of the year.

Apple is notably absent from the list and there are no (public) plans for Flash on the iPhone.

Adobe updates Flash9 player

The updated player is available from Adobe Labs. It now supports H.264 video streaming which allows for HD content to be displayed (up to 1080p).

It's still a beta product, but Adobe is fending off other players.

Adobe supports Google 3D Warehouse

Adobe has launched a plugin for CS3 that allows users to access Google's 3D Warehouse which is the on-line model gallery for Google's Sketchup system.

Though there are limitations, it will allow users to directly utilise a model within CS3 using its 3D capabilities.

Goggle's 3D Warehouse is all about user generated content and there's a lot of it there, not all good ...

Apple launches quad core MacPros

Apple have released new MacPro desktop machines with quad core CPUs allowing up to 8 cores per machines.

They cost about £4,000 but they are bound to attract interest from the high end creatives.

Since Adobe have now launched CS3 (in various flavours) with native Mac/Intel support, the new machines will make a match in heaven for people using Photoshop and other applications that have a high pixel count etc.

Please find me one.

ISO PDF anyone

Adobe is trying to get the PDF specification ratified as an ISO spec.

Initially the v1.7 specification is being submitted to Association for Information and Image Management with the hope they'll submit it to ISO to become an international standard.

Is it just a way to fend off Microsoft who are pushing their XML format for Office 2007?

Photoshop Lightroom to ship this month

Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom (as was just Lightroom) is going to ship later this month. Available on both Macs and PCs (universal binary for Macs).

Adobe have made a big effort with a large public beta test as they're obviously going for the Apple Apperture market and the feedback does seem positive.

No pricing has been set yet.