acrobat

Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended

Bottom line: This update should be worthwhile for security-minded businesses and creative firms. With Acrobat 9, Adobe brings new Web relevance to print-ready PDFs by enabling embedded video and animation. Forms, security, and overall ease of use are also enhanced.

The introduction of Adobe Acrobat 9 document-creation software could do for PDFs what the "Jazz Singer" did for movies. For the first time, PDFs can "talk" via embedded Flash video and Shockwave animation. In turn, users of Version 9 of the nearly ubiquitous and free Acrobat Reader will be able to watch movies, play interactive games, … Read more

Adobe says Acrobat 9 is good to go

Adobe on Wednesday released a revamped version of its Acrobat document creation software that includes built-in support for Flash and multimedia content.

Acrobat 9 lets users convert MOV and WMV files to Flash content that can be embedded within PDFs alongside audio content and even 3D models. The free Acrobat Reader 9 will play the movies, eliminating the need to open other media players.

Adobe released a beta test version of Acrobat 9 earlier this month, along with a new online service called Acrobat.com that includes a Web-based word processor, conferencing and remote access, PDF creation, and 5 gigabytes … Read more

Adobe releases security updates for Reader, Acrobat

On Monday, Adobe released a security update for a serious vulnerability within Reader and Acrobat. The vulnerability described in CVE-2008-2641 is being circulated on the Internet. Adobe says if exploited the vulnerability could crash applications and could allow an attacker to take control of the affected system.

The update affects Adobe Reader 8.0 through 8.1.2, Adobe Reader 7.0.9 and earlier, Adobe Acrobat Professional, 3D and Standard 8.0 through 8.1.2, Adobe Acrobat Professional, 3D and Standard 7.0.9 and earlier. It does not affect Adobe Reader 7.1.0 and Acrobat 7.… Read more

Sharing shines in Acrobat.com

Adobe Systems' beta release of the free Acrobat.com suite Monday should appeal to small-business users. In our early tests, the stand-outs are tools for Web conferencing and directly sharing text and PDF documents.

Acrobat.com includes a Web-based word processor, conferencing and remote access, PDF creation, and 5 gigabytes of file storage.

I like the services' uncomplicated, charcoal-background interfaces. Like other online word processors, Buzzword is no Microsoft Word killer, but speedy enough to serve as a go-anywhere text editor. Documents can be exported as Microsoft Word DOC or DOCX; PDF; rich text; HTML; or XML.

Inviting someone else … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 736: Plurk that Plurkin' Facebook

Facebook comes under attack by Canadian privacy groups, but everyone's already moved on to Plurk. Er...maybe. Also: self-destructing DVDs are back! Yay! They were such a good idea the first time around, we're betting they'll be a monster hit, what with their wasteful, throwaway nature and ridiculous pricing and all. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 736

Mars lander’s robotic arm makes contact http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956964-7.html

U.S. town tells Street View to push off http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/06/02/north_oaks_street_view/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9956753-7.html

Motley … Read more

Adobe Acrobat takes big online leap

Adobe unveiled an online community Monday with a word processor; file storage and sharing; and deep tie-ins to a newly Flash-enabled Acrobat 9.

The online push for Acrobat is a bold move for a brand perhaps best associated with the free and nearly ubiquitous Acrobat Reader, which opens print-ready Portable Document Format, or PDF, files. Now, PDFs will play movies.

The announcement comes in advance of the release of Acrobat 9 document-creation software, which adds dynamic features such as integration of animation, dynamic maps, 256-bit encryption, and improved forms.

The free Acrobat.com beta includes the Buzzword word processor. Its … Read more

Update available for Foxit PDF reader

Foxit software just released a new version of its Adobe Acrobat PDF file reader. The previous version was 2.3 build 2825. The new version is still 2.3 but the build number is now 2923.

Although there is nothing about it on Foxit's Web site, the company confirmed on the phone that this is a bug-fix release.

On May 20, Secunia issued an advisory that pointed out what it called a "highly critical" bug in the prior version. Secunia expected a fix from Foxit in an upcoming version of the software, however, as of 12:15 … Read more

Converting an Adobe Acrobat PDF file into a Word document

The May 15th issue of the Support Alert newsletter has an interesting article on converting PDF files into Word documents. Initially, the newsletter author, Ian Richards, tested a couple free online conversion services, then he got readers with seven different commercial products to convert his sample document.

He called the results "fascinating" and found that "the products varied markedly". The most expensive product produced one the worst conversions. Overall, he likes Zamzar, a free web-based conversion service, saying "Most users who have only a casual need to convert PDFs to DOC should save their pennies … Read more

The Foxit PDF Reader - fast, free, portable and new

The big claim to fame for the Foxit PDF Reader has always been speed - it opens PDF files much faster than Adobe's own Acrobat Reader. Then too, it's free and much smaller than the Adobe Reader. Plus, people just like it. At download.com, the CNET review gave it 5 stars out of 5.

But there is another big advantage, the Foxit Reader is portable.

Portable applications are those that can be run without being installed. I'm a huge fan of portable applications and use them whenever possible, running them both off the C disk and … Read more