Better iPad viewing experience gets closer

The technology clash between Flash and Apple’s iPad may be moving closer to a solution with the announcement of two new Adobe technologies which will result in a better viewing experience on the tablet computer. Nobody’s mentioning Flash yet, but Adobe’s Dreamweaver CS5 has just got the necessary HTML5 support, and tools are emerging within Digital Publishing Platform to meet the needs of readers such as the iPad. A new digital viewer technology was developed with input from Condé Nast’s ‘Wired’ magazine and used for its new iPad digital edition. Creative solutions vice president and general manager David Burkettsays the viewer software will be made available to all publishers “soon”, with versions that work across multiple hardware platforms. He says InDesign CS5 users are “well on their way” to producing elegant digital versions of their publications. The Wired reader showcases capabilities with video content, slideshows, 360 degree images and the ability to rotate content vertically and horizontally. Using the tablet form factor, it allows readers to explore magazine content using touch gestures, including a zoomed-out browse mode. Adobe says the viewer technology also promises a new advertising paradigm. Advertisements in the Wired version encourage interactivity and integrate with content, while keeping readers within the magazine experience. Condé Nast editorial director Thomas Wallace says the work with Adobe is just beginning: “We expect to use this technology to deliver more of our publications over the coming months.” The Dreamweaver CS5 HTML5 Pack extension provides “initial support” for HTML5 and CSS3 in Adobe’s Dreamweaver web application and includes other updates and improvements. The developer says while HTML5 and CSS3 will not be finalised for some time, the extension provides support for a set of currently-implemented features, and invites comment from the developer community. The HTML5 Pack extension for Dreamweaver CS5 is available as a free download, at http://labs.adobe.com/downloads/html5pack.html. It includes new code hinting for HTML5 and CSS3 capabilities to enable Dreamweaver users to make use of new HTML5 tags. WebKit engine updates and improvements support video and audio in Dreamweaver CS5’s Live View. The new CSS3 capabilities enable users to design multi-screen web pages more easily, with previews of how they will render across multiple browsers and devices. The pack also features HTML5 starter layouts to the New Document dialogue box in Dreamweaver CS5. • ProImage has announced Equinox software to enable publishers to automate creation of their own branded tablet interactive editions. The developer is showing workflows with content from its MediaWay workflow and content management solution as well as from the open source Drupal CMS system. ProImage says will provide branded apps for customer publications, starting with the iPad, with AppStore marketing allowing a one-click content purchase. Equinox also has the ability to enable or disable live feeds – important for e-publications that need to add live data to content. ProImage sells directly in some parts of the world, and has dealer partners in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, China, India and Thailand. • vjoon – which makes the K4 system used by Wired – says it is developing features to streamline the creation of the alternative layouts and aspect ratios required to deliver quality digital pages to the iPad and forthcoming alternative mobile platforms. The company says this alignment will help customers create a standard for monetisation by means of paid content and advertising with user analytics. • Two new iPad digital magazine titles make use of WoodWing software and Digital Magazine Tools, an extension of their Enterprise cross-media publishing system. Australian publisher ACP has an app for its monthly computer magazine ‘APC’, while in Japan, Mainichi Newspaper Company has launched a new photography magazine called ‘photoJ’.