Adobe Announces Availability of Acrobat Reader for Palm OS
Press release from the issuing company
SAN JOSE, Calif., (May 29, 2001) (Nasdaq: ADBE)--Adobe Systems Incorporated, the leader in Network Publishing, today announced the immediate availability of Acrobat Reader for Palm OS, a new product that builds on the company's vision to deliver visually rich content anytime, anywhere, on any device. The software allows busy mobile professionals and others the flexibility and freedom to view content in the ubiquitous Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on Palm Powered{ handheld devices. The Acrobat Reader for Palm OS software is now available for download free of charge from the Adobe.com Web site at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html.
Acrobat Reader for Palm OS extends the value of the new Adobe Acrobat 5.0 software and Adobe PDF beyond desktop computers to handhelds. Adobe PDF documents created using Acrobat 5.0 will offer a better reading experience on Palm Powered devices than files created using earlier versions of Acrobat because they are automatically tagged with information on the document structure and organization. This allows for easier and more reliable text re-flow on the smaller device.
"Corporations are experiencing rapid growth in the use of PDAs in the enterprise, both for personal information management and vertical processes, such as sales, service and marketing," said Tim Hickernell, Senior Program Director in the META Group's Web & Collaboration Strategies Service. "Making high-fidelity business documents available on portable platforms is necessary to complement the extension of vertical applications to these platforms, such as sales automation applications and service automation applications."
Business professionals from enterprise corporations, including Cisco Systems, Inc., tested the public beta version of the product and were enthusiastic about its ease of use and the value it added through immediate access to Adobe PDF files from virtually anywhere.
"All of our technical documentation is converted to Adobe PDF using Acrobat, and we're excited that we can now read those same files on Palm Powered handhelds using Acrobat Reader for Palm OS," said Jeff Beard, a technical writer in Cisco's Optical Transport Business Unit, a group that designs and manufacturers key building blocks for optical networks. "The software helps eliminate the need for our field service staff to carry around bulky materials or boot up laptops to download technical documents. Now, staff can instantly view the documents on handhelds in a format that is fully searchable and contains bookmarks for easy navigation."
Pricing and Availability
Acrobat Reader for Palm OS is immediately available free of charge at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html for Windows 98, Windows NT, Windows ME and Windows 2000 (users must have Palm Desktop 3.0.1 or higher), and Palm Powered devices with Palm OS 3.1 or higher and a minimum available memory of 200K. The product is initially available in English only. Support for other languages, as well as the Macintosh platform, is expected in future versions. For more information, please visit http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readerforpalm.html.