Adobe pushes Flash-based tech at publishers, will Apple's tablet play nice?

The detente between Apple and Adobe over Flash support on the iPhone may be more than a storm in a teacup - at stake could be both company’s plans for the future of publishing.

There’s been lots of attention in recent weeks lavished upon Apple’s eBook-plus-tablet plans and the move by major publishers to announce development and cooperation of new digital formats for their print products. And now it looks like Adobe is doing what it can to stake a place in the game.

The company has announced that over 100 publishers, book retailers and libraries have adopted Adobe Content Server 4 software to protect PDF and EPUB eBook content and support the distribution to thousands of retail, libraries and other channels across the globe.
Reinforcing this point, the company also points out that “nearly 20 device manufacturers have licensed the Adobe Reader Mobile software development kit (SDK) to enable PDF and EPUB support on dedicated reading devices.”

“This furthers industry efforts to accelerate eBook standardization on the open EPUB eBook format, enabling companies to create, deliver and monetize eBook content on smartphones and devices using Adobe’s eBook platform.”

Adobe’s eBook initiatives also come at a time when the company is exploring new digital publication formats with leading publishers such as Conde Nast, The New York Times Company and others. Those are two of the the major publishing firms engaged in developing an “iTunes for Magazines” right now.

“With support of the open EPUB standard across our digital publishing solutions, publishers can integrate eBooks into their digital content distribution strategies and build new businesses around their creative assets,” said John Loiacono, senior vice president, Creative Solutions at Adobe. “New eBook hardware is exciting consumers this holiday season and Adobe technology will ensure there will be new digital titles coming on the market every week to help grow this market.”

“Standardizing on the open EPUB format has simplified our eBook production workflow by reducing the number of formats to which we output,” said Charlie Redmayne, chief digital officer at leading global publisher HarperCollins. “Distributing our titles in EPUB allows readers greater choice in where they buy their digital books and also enables them to view and transfer content across a variety of devices.”

We anticipate that - should Apple not move to support the Adobe format on its much-mooted but still completely unannounced, confirmed or introduced eBook-friendly future Apple tablet product - we’re looking at a potential battle between the two firms for the future format of digital publishing.

Could get interesting next year.