Marc
From: [email protected] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.tw.computers,clari.biz.products,clari.local.sfbay
Subject: Adobe debuts software to simplify paperwork
Keywords: computers, manufacturing, corporate products & services,
corporate finance
Date: Tue, 15 Jun 93 17:15:06 PDT
ACategory: financial
Slugword: adobe
Priority: regular
Format: regular
ANPA: Wc: 445/411; Id: z6201; Sel: xxbfc; Adate: 6-15-810ped
Codes: ybfcrxx., yfcprxx., //nf--f/, tsza....
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (UPI) -- Adobe Systems Inc. rolled out Tuesday
its much-awaited Acrobat program, designed to simplify communications
between office computers.
Adode, which debuted the program at a news conference in New York,
promised Acrobat will make it practical to distribute electronic
versions of reports, newspapers and books, complete with artwork,
photographs and typefaces.
``Acrobat will fundamentally charge the economics of information by
removing the critical barriers that have kept electronic documents from
moving between computers,'' said John Warnock, chairman and chief
executive officer.
``Today's paper-based information is hampered by the physical media,''
WArnock said. ``Acrobat technology liberates information and the flow of
ideas and allows it to enter the electronic age.''
Analysts have called the product a break-through, saying it could
double Abode's annual revenues, which were $265 million last year.
Shares jumped $3 a share on Monday in acticipation of the
announcement, then slid 50 cents to $72 in over-the-counter trading.
Besides internal corporate uses, Acrobat may also be useful to
publishers seeking easier ways of distributing information. A newspaper
could be distributed through telephone lines into computers, with the
pages appearing the same as they do in print.
Adobe said the Acrobat products preserve the essential look and feel
of even the most complex documents that contain photographs, various
typefaces and color.
The product's release is an advance from competing products and
arrives in the market prior to rival programs that are expected to come
from such major players as Microsoft Corp., Apple Computer Inc. and
Xerox Corp.
As a result, Acrobat may set an industry standard. Its previous
products, led by its flagship PostScript that tells a computer or
printer how to format characters, are well-regarded in the industry.
The first versions of Acrobat will work on Apple's Macitosh system
and personal computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system.
Unix and DOS systems wil be available later this year.
Abode unveiled three products -- Acrobat Reader, Acrobat Exchange and
Acrobat Distiller -- using its portable document format.
Acrobat Reader, to be used for viewing documents, will be sold at $35
a copy at quantities of more the 500.
Acrobat Exchange, to be used for networks, will be sold at $195 for a
single copy and $146 a copy at quantities of more than 100 copies.
Acrobat Distiller, to be used for creating documents, was priced at
$695 for individual users and $2,495 for networks.