macromedia

Watch Flash content only when you want

ClickToFlash is a free plug-in for Safari that can--in the words of the developers--"block evil Adobe Flash...the scourge of the Web." Indeed, ClickToFlash does an excellent job of blocking unwanted Flash video while still letting you watch Flash when you want to, which can result in better browser performance, fewer crashes, cooler running temperatures (and hence lass fan noise), and in the case of laptops, longer battery usage (in both the short term and over the life of a battery).

ClickToFlash is easy to install and use. Once installed, ClickToFlash blocks all Flash video, instead showing … Read more

Adobe combines PC and mobile groups

Adobe Systems, maker of Photoshop and Acrobat software, is folding the company's mobile group into its platform operations as a way to create one platform for computers, handsets, and other consumer devices.

The move coincides with the departure of Al Ramadan, who was in charge of Adobe's mobile unit. Ramadan spent nearly 10 years at Adobe and Macromedia, Adobe said in a press release.

The company is still trying to consolidate business units from its 2005 acquisition of Macromedia.

Gary Kovacs, vice president of product management and marketing for Adobe, was promoted to general manager of the new … Read more

Adobe names Macromedia exec to be CTO

Adobe Systems brought the chief technology officer title out of retirement Tuesday and applied it to Kevin Lynch.

Lynch, previously chief software architect and senior vice president of Adobe's platform business unit, joined Adobe in 2005 when it acquired Macromedia, where he led product development.

At Adobe, he'll lead work with Adobe's Flash Player, Flex development tools, and Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR). Those products are gaining in importance at the San Jose, Calif.-based company.

"Adobe has transformed itself through several technology waves, from desktop publishing, to multimedia and to the Web," said Adobe's new chief executive, Shantanu Narayen, … Read more

Google reads Flash text, so optimize it

With the recent admission by Matt Cutts to Stephan Spencer that Google is using Adobe Systems' Search Engine SDK technology, a new set of optimization opportunities opened up.

That fairly definite confirmation of how Google reads text within Flash files makes it possible to create Flash .swf files with some level of search engine optimization.

"It used to be the case that we had our own, home-brew code to pull the text out of Flash, but I think that we have moved to the Search Engine SDK tool that Adobe Macromedia offers," Cutts said. "So my hunch … Read more

A defense of my Adobe-bashing

Note: For readers of this blog, below is the response I posted to a gripe from Adobe Systems' John Dowdell about an earlier blog posting of mine.

As the author of both the headline and the blog, I'm glad you took the time to write down your thoughts, not just curse me inwardly, because it affords me the opportunity to offer the following response. It is, as the blogosphere cliche goes, a conversation.

The headline is perhaps a bit snarky, but I don't think it's wholly inaccurate. John Loiacono took pains to point out the flaws of … Read more

Adobe shows off six flavors of CS3

Since Adobe bought Macromedia nearly two years ago, rumors have flown about what mutant offspring might emerge from this marriage of software makers.

Although a leak on a blog revealed bits of this closely guarded secret about a day early, Adobe has officially taken the wraps off the pricing and packaging of its Creative Suite 3--most of which will work on Intel-based or PowerPC Macs, as well as with Windows Vista and XP. (See our coverage of the CS3 Master Collection to start.).

The six flavors of CS3 are built for different types of digital designers. So far, we've … Read more