Hoping to boost the use of PDFs in electronic publishing, Adobe Systems Inc. on Wednesday launched an online store for PDF eBooks and digital content that links directly into Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat applications.
Called the Adobe Digital Media Store, the site includes downloads of between 15,000 and 20,000 documents that range from digital books and magazines to research reports and maps, said Tom Prehn, senior business development manager for e-publishing at Adobe.
“We look at this as a way to really promote all the features of PDFs,” Prehn said, noting that other digital content sites dont always focus on PDFs.
Along with going directly to the site, users can reach the PDF documents with one click from a “Get Books Online” button in Adobe Reader 6.0 and Adobe Acrobat 6.0. Before the launch of the Adobe online store, users were taken to an index of eBook and digital content retailers when clicking the button.
Adobe, which created the store with digital media vendor OverDrive Inc., has focused the site on digital content from major publishers, rather than on content from individuals, Prehn said. Featured publishers include HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Random House, Time Warner, John Wiley and McGraw-Hill, Adobe said.
/zimages/5/28571.gifeWEEK Labs took a look at Acrobat 6.0 and called it a “must-have” upgrade. To read the full story,click here.
Adobe, of San Jose, Calif., also updated digital rights management features in Reader and Acrobat on Wednesday. The Version 6.0.1 update allows a user to designate as many as six devices for reading protected content, rather than only one, Prehn said. These include devices based on Windows, Mac OS X and the Palm OS, and Adobe is working to include Pocket PC-based devices.
/zimages/5/28571.gifAdobe is also trying out digital rights management (DRM) features in its other product lines, including Adobe Photoshop.