Adobe brings Web conferencing to Acrobat
Acrobat 8 line, due in November, will allow people to view a common PDF file via a Web browser.
The company on Monday detailed its refreshed Acrobat line and pricing. In tandem with the product upgrade, Adobe will launch a hosted service called Acrobat Connect, which will allow individuals to click on a button in a PDF file to start a Web conference.
Executives said that Adobe will continue to add collaboration-oriented features to its Acrobat products.
"The motion forward is around personal and project spaces where people can communicate around certain issues and topics," said Ricky Liversidge, a product marketing manager at Adobe. "It's like having my personal meeting room--a URL where you go forward and store documents."
Connect is a rebranded edition of a Web conferencing product formerly called Macromedia Breeze.
From a PDF file, a person can use Connect to let someone else view a document or a person's entire desktop through a Web browser. Connect, which runs with the Adobe Flash Player, also lets a person start a chat with instant messaging or send an invitation via e-mail.
For individuals, Adobe will host the service, which will cost $39 per month or $395 per year. The service is slated to launch in mid-November.
For corporate customers, Adobe created an on-premise edition of Adobe Connect, a server installed and maintained by customers.
Other features in Acrobat 8 include the ability to combine multiple distinct documents with a PDF file. For example, a person could include a Word document within a larger file that maintains the original digital signature.