Adobe Unveils Acrobat 9 Software

Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today introduced Adobe® Acrobat® 9 software, a significant upgrade that will transform the process of creating and sharing electronic documents. Acrobat 9 delivers native support for Adobe Flash® technology, the ability to unify a wide range of content in rich PDF Portfolios, and access to real-time capabilities for co-navigating a PDF document with colleagues.

"The expectations organizations and individuals have for communicating and collaborating in the workplace continues to grow significantly," said Sandeep Mehrotra, Director Sales, Adobe Systems. "The ability to break through and communicate a message in a compelling way has never been at a greater premium. Acrobat 9 is a response to this environment and is poised to fundamentally change how professionals communicate and collaborate using electronic documents."

For the first time, Acrobat 9 provides deep support for Adobe Flash technology, enabling users to include Adobe Flash Player compatible video and application files in PDF documents. Recipients simply need free Adobe Reader® 9 software to consume the content. Now, static documents can come to life as dynamic communications.

Acrobat 9 also includes the ability to unify a wide range of content into a single document with the new concept of PDF Portfolios. PDF Portfolios enable business professionals to assemble multiple media types, such as documents, video, audio, and even 3D objects, into one, compressed PDF file. Users can then choose among several professional layouts-or create their own-to quickly integrate content, define navigation, and add polish and branding. As a result, communications such as sales proposals, legal documents, and product collateral can become far more customized and compelling.

In addition, Acrobat 9 provides access to capabilities for collaborating live within a PDF document-enabled by working with Acrobat.com, a new suite of hosted services Adobe introduced as public beta today. For example, a salesperson could use Acrobat 9 to send a lengthy contract to clients. The sales professional, or any of the recipients using Adobe Reader1, can then drive the group's navigation through the PDF document in real-time working with Acrobat.com. This helps ensure everyone is literally, and figuratively, on the same page.

Additionally, Acrobat 9 users can access Acrobat.com for storing and sharing files, use it as a central location for collecting data as part of a forms process, and to gather comments in a shared document review. Acrobat.com includes other services, such as Adobe ConnectNow, personal Web conferencing that provides desktop sharing, video and voice conferencing, and integrated chat; and Adobe Buzzword®, an elegant, Web-based word processor that can be used to easily co-author and share documents for comment and review, creating high-quality print results.

The Acrobat 9 family consists of Acrobat 9 Standard, Acrobat 9 Pro, and the new Acrobat 9 Pro Extended software. The most comprehensive member of the family, Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, includes Adobe Presenter software for easily turning Microsoft® PowerPoint presentations into multimedia experiences that can be published as PDF files.

Pricing and Availability

Acrobat 9 Pro Extended, Acrobat 9 Pro and Acrobat 9 Standard for Microsoft Windows®, and Acrobat 9 Pro for Mac OS X, are expected to be available by July 2008 in English, French, German, and Japanese language versions. Acrobat 9 Pro Extended is expected to be available for US$699, and registered users of qualifying earlier versions of Acrobat2 can upgrade to Acrobat 9 Pro Extended for US$229. Acrobat 9 Pro is expected to be available for US$449, and registered users of qualifying earlier versions of Acrobat3 can upgrade to Acrobat 9 Pro for US$159. Acrobat 9 Standard is expected to be available for US$299, and registered users of qualifying earlier versions of Acrobat4 can upgrade to Acrobat 9 Standard for US$99.