Saturday, August 25, 2007

Kuler by Adobe

Kuler
From Adobe Labs


Table of contents [showhide]
1 kuler APIs

2 RSS Feeds

2.1 Get RSS Feeds


2.1.1 Example usage


2.2 Search RSS Feeds


2.2.1 Example usage


3 Themes

3.1 Theme Thumbnail
3.2 View Theme


[edit]kuler APIs
kuler is all about color and inspiration: explore, create, and share color themes.

Due to popular demand we are publishing the kuler APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). These APIs allow you to submit requests to http://kuler.adobe.com/kuler/API/, which returns lists of feeds (highest rated, most popular, and newest color themes posted to the site) or searches themes.

Prior to using these APIs, please review the API documentation below and the kuler Terms of Use, and download the kuler API logo. This logo must be included on your website/application. By using the APIs, you indicate that you have read and agreed to the kuler Terms of Use.

Questions? For general questions, review the kuler API FAQ. To discuss the APIs, use the discussion tab at the top of this page, or the kuler talk forum. If you are still unable to find an answer, please send your question to kulerapi(at)adobe.com.

We're excited to see what you come up with, and we plan to feature the best applications in a Showcase Gallery on Adobe Labs. If you'd like to include your work on the showcase, send the URL of your application to kulerapi(at)adobe.com.

[edit]RSS Feeds
The following API requests return lists of formatted RSS feed items. The syntax in each case follows the prefix http://kuler.adobe.com/kuler/API/

Kuler:Sample RSS Feed

[edit]Get RSS Feeds
rss/get.cfm?listtype=[listtype]&startIndex=[startIndex]&itemsPerPage=[itemsPerPage]

Returns a list of feeds of a specified type.

listType: Optional. One of the strings recent (the default), popular, or rating.
startIndex: Optional. A 0-based index into the list that specifies the first item to display. Default is 0, which displays the first item in the list.
itemsPerPage: Optional. The maximum number of items to display on a page, in the range [1..100]. Default is 20.
[edit]Example usage
Get highest-rated feeds
http://kuler.adobe.com/kuler/API/rss/get.cfm?listtype=rating
Get most popular feeds
http://kuler.adobe.com/kuler/API/rss/get.cfm?listtype=popular
Get most recent feeds
http://kuler.adobe.com/kuler/API/rss/get.cfm?listtype=recent
[edit]Search RSS Feeds
rss/search.cfm?searchQuery=[searchQuery]&startIndex=[startIndex]&itemsPerPage=[itemsPerPage]

Returns a list of feeds that meet specified search criteria.

searchQuery: Optional. A search filter. This can be one of the predefined filters listed below, or a simple string term to search on; for example, "blue". If you specify a simple term, the search looks for that term in theme titles, tags, author names, themeIDs, authorIDs, and hexValues. By default, retrieves all available feeds.
These filters are available:
themeID:[themeID] - search on a specific themeID
userID:[userID] - search on a specific userID
email:[email] - search on a specific email
tag:[tag] - search on a tag word
hex:[hex] - search on a hex color value (can be in the format "ABCDEF" or "0xABCDEF")
title:[title] - search on a theme title
startIndex: Optional. A 0-based index into the list that specifies the first item to display. Default is 0, which displays the first item in the list.
itemsPerPage: Optional. The maximum number of items to display on a page, in the range [1..100]. Default is 20.
[edit]Example usage
Get feeds for a specific e-mail user
http://kuler.adobe.com/kuler/API/rss/search.cfm?searchQuery=email:user@kuler.com
[edit]Themes
[edit]Theme Thumbnail
rss/png/generateThemePng.cfm?themeid=[theme_id]

Retrieves a thumbnail of a specific theme

themeid: Required. The id of a specified theme.
For example:

http://kuler.adobe.com/kuler/API/rss/png/generateThemePng.cfm?themeid=11
[edit]View Theme
To view a specific theme directly in the kuler public website, use the following URL:

http://kuler.adobe.com/#themeID/[theme_id]

For example:

http://kuler.adobe.com/#themeID/42374
Retrieved from "http://labs.adobe.com/wiki/index.php/Kuler"

Adobe SWOT Analysis

Adobe has a great number of strengths. First major strength is the widespread name recognition that the company has. Largely because of the product Acrobat, and specifically the reader that is installed on most PCs throughout the United States and the world. This is a piece of software that reads PDF files, which Adobe has made free for the public. This was a very smart idea on the part of Adobe. As stated previously, this brings the Adobe name into almost every home and business. Another major strength for Adobe is that they were one of the first companies to specialize in graphic design software. It hasn’t been too many years since graphic design started to be done almost solely with the computer. Adobe quickly cornered this market and has continued to remain the leader. The third major strength working in Adobe’s favor is that the industry they chose to make software for is continuing to grow day-by-day and continues to give the company the opportunity to make more software products to fit the industries growing needs.

One major weakness in the way Adobe does business is a lack of marketing. In doing research, we found that Adobe has products for audio recording and editing, video recording and editing in addition to the popular photograph editing, illustrating, and publication layout. They also have products to enhance other software out on the market including a product called Ovation which is designed to work with Microsoft PowerPoint to improve presentations. This was only one of several different kinds of software that we found out that they offered. With both the design industry and the social media market growing as fast as they are, it was surprising that there’s not more information out there about these products that they have available. Another weakness that we have observed is that they don’t seem to be staying ahead of the market. Their products Photoshop and Illustrator were on the cutting edge of the graphic design industry and Adobe has made themselves indispensable to graphic designers with these products. More recently, however, they haven’t seemed to stay ahead of the new trends. While they do have products for the newer industry, the name Adobe is not nearly as well established within those industries.

The major opportunity out there for Adobe right now is that its software serves some of the fastest growing industries. With the growing trend in social networking media like MySpace, Facebook, and others, photo editing and video editing are growing hobbies among the amateur market. Graphic design is also a very fast growing industry. If Adobe can capitalize on the software that it offers for these tasks, they can really put themselves ahead of the competition, not only in its graphic design software, but in the other types of software as well.

The biggest threat out there for Adobe is change. As the markets continue to change, the software has to consistently change as well. With industries that are growing this fast, it can be tough for technology companies to stay ahead of the change. Microsoft is continuing to grow and expand the types of software that it offers. Microsoft already has a photo editing software, a drawing software, and a desktop publishing software. With the growing amateur market, these lower tech, lower priced software options stand to pull some of the market from Adobe unless they can find a new way to compete.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Adobe Market Share Analysis

When we think of Adobe, we think of PDF files (Portable Document Format). As well we should. Adobe owns the market when it comes to the graphic and text files that we download from the internet. We take it for granted the universal use of the PDF file. It was marketing genius for Adobe to give away its document viewer. There is a download link on most of the internet pages that post PDF files. Before reviewing Adobe’s products in relation to its competitors, it is important to know the history of the products Adobe offers today. Today’s market analysis will look similar to what Adobe’s managers were faced with throughout much of their history.

The founders of Adobe left Xerox to develop and sell the Postscript page description language. Apple licensed Postscript and desktop publishing was invented. Adobe marketed digital fonts. However competitors Apple and Microsoft introduced competing fonts. Adobe developed the Adobe Type manager to try and stay in the market. Over the years Adobe had to concede the market to OpenType font format.

Adobe developed the Adobe Illustrator software package for Apple computers. Illustrator competed with, and stole the market share from Apple’s MacDraw. Adobe’s follow up product to Illustrator was Photoshop. Photoshop was Adobe’s mainstay graphic application and quickly dominated that market.

Adobe did not immediately capitalize on Photoshop by expanding it into the desktop publishing market. Because of this, they lost market share. Unable to develop what they needed in house in a timely manner, Adobe used the profits from earlier success to purchase what it needed. Ultimately they released FrameMaker which was a fully integrated desktop publishing program.

This leads us to Adobe’s most important products today, at least from a market analysis point of view. Adobe’s market focus should be in two main areas, one concerning its Acrobat products, the other concerns its Creative Suite product.

Adobe needs to maintain its PDF files as being the defacto standard for use in product manuals, scanned documents, any document on a web site that all down loaders can open with the free Acrobat Reader. The money stream for licensing the format and selling Acrobat must continue well into the future to support internal software development and company acquisitions. This is the same model that was used for years with the Postscript product. The cost per user is small, but the number of users is very large. It is like printing money.

There is a dark shadow falling on Adobe in the form of competition from Microsoft. Microsoft has developed a file format that competes with PDF, the XPS (XML Paper Specification) file. Microsoft has made this format available as an open source standard. To aide in making it popular, Microsoft has bundled Microsoft XPS Document Writer into its Vista operating system. XPS Document Writer is their equivalent to Adobe Acrobat. Users of Windows XP can download and install the SPX viewer from the following link

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/features/details/xps.mspx

Microsoft’s marketing model is to give away the XPS viewer program to all XP users. The XP viewer is the equivalent to Adobe Acrobat viewer. They then bundle Microsoft XPS Document Writer with all future Windows operating systems starting with Vista. Their dominance of PC operating systems guarantees that XPS will be widely used. Microsoft is also pushing XPS as an open source format so that other companies can use it free of charge. Microsoft is trying to eliminate Adobe’s PDF format.

What can Adobe do? It doesn’t hurt to be king of the hill right now with their Adobe Acrobat products. Adobe Acrobat reader is installed on nearly every PC. Adobe is able to advertise and offer new products to consumers every time an automatic update takes place. If they can improve the functionality of Acrobat while keeping the cost down, they can maintain an advantage over Microsoft (see following text concerning India). Adobe should be able to keep its products fresher than Microsoft. XPS is tied to an operating system and users do not all update their software.

The Adobe Creative Suite integrates Photoshop, Illustrator InDesign and ten other programs into one package. The Suite costs less than the combined price of purchasing each program by itself. The package is becoming more capable and more tightly integrated with each release. Professional customers appreciate being able to do all of their work within one integrated package. Customers needing the full functionality of the suite also appreciate the price break.

Competitors of Creative Suite is the open source AJAX , QuarkXpress and Microsoft’s new Expression Web. Ajax and QuarkXpress are not nearly filled with the features that Creative Suite boasts. Expression Web is Microsoft’s replacement for Front Page. At this time Creative lab has the lead on all of these products in terms of capability.

To summarize, Adobe must keep its costs down while maintaining the lead on the capabilities of its products. It cannot compete with free products on price alone, it must innovate. This requires a two prong approach. For the bulk of its software development it must use offshore software engineers. Adobe already has an R&D facility in Bangalore India. Adobe must leverage low cost labor for the bulk of its development work. That will keep costs as low as possible. Adobe must then innovate in its experience American facilities, or if necessary it must find and acquire companies who have integrated products. Low cost, and the best innovation will be needed to ward off open source software and Microsoft. Don’t count Adobe out, they have been in the game for 25 years and will not go down without a fight!

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Adobe FlashCast

bc
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press/Analyst Contacts
Stefan Offermann
Adobe Systems Incorporated
408-536-4023
sofferma@adobe.comElisabeth Petersson
Telenor
+46 709 61 42 07
elisabeth.petersson@telenor.comTelenor Sweden and Adobe Partner to Deliver Mobile Content ServicesBranded Content Channels Bring Engaging Mobile Experiences to Telenor CustomersSAN JOSE, Calif. — Feb. 12, 2007 — At the 3GSM World Congress, Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq: ADBE) and Telenor (Nasdaq:TELN) announced a partnership to deliver Adobe FlashCast™ in Sweden. Telenor will conduct the first trial in Europe, joining several operators across the globe now testing FlashCast, a flexible client-server solution that effectively delivers rich and engaging data experiences to mobile phones. Trial users will be able to access specific channels dedicated to weather, news, and entertainment.Designed to solve many of the limitations of today’s mobile data services, FlashCast impacts the entire mobile ecosystem by expediting and simplifying the delivery of mobile content. It not only enables pioneering, mobile network operators like Telenor to differentiate their brands in the fiercely competitive wireless market, it also helps to establish recurring revenue streams by increasing data adoption and usage. Similarly, it enables content developers and handset manufactures to create and deliver more dynamic applications.“FlashCast makes it easy for users to discover personalized content, from gathering news and traffic conditions to gambling or booking a round of golf,” said Michael Bergman responsible for New Business at Telenor Sweden. “This is of growing importance to our subscribers as the market for mobile content services continues to intensify.”For innovative operators like Telenor, the remarkable success of NTT DoCoMo’s FlashCast application is a great example. Since the i-channel™ news and daily information delivery service launched in Japan in 2005, more than eight million mobile phone subscribers have signed up for the service. Subscribers receive five base channels for content—including news, weather, entertainment reports, sports and horoscopes—and are alerted to new channel updates via the standby screens of their mobile phone. In addition, third-party developers can also offer additional value-added content to enhance the breadth of available content for the user. “Today, more than 200 million Flash Lite™ enabled mobile devices have shipped and Adobe continues to focus on ensuring that mobile content delivery is ever more integrated across its flagship creative products,” said Mike Bergeron, vice president for business development, Mobile and Devices at Adobe. “Flash developers worldwide now see the delivery of mobile content as an essential part of their future business plans and partnering with innovators like Telenor will open new markets for engaging Flash content.”
Page 2 of 2
Telenor Sweden and Adobe Partner to Deliver Mobile Content Services
Telenor’s trials will begin in Sweden this month followed by in-depth focus groups. A commercial launch is expected in the fall of 2007.About TelenorIn Sweden, Telenor is a leading total supplier of communication services such as mobile, fixed telephony and data services. With a focus on the customer, Telenor is able to offer its services to private individuals and companies alike. Telenor is also represented by the Brendbandsbolaget, djuice, Glocalnet and Canal Digital.Telenor is one of the largest Stock Exchange listed companies in Norway with sales for 2005 of NOK 68.9 billion. The number of employees at the end of 2005 was approximately 27,600, of which 16,700 were outside of Norway. Telenor is a market leader in Norway within the areas of telecommunication, data services and media distribution and has significant international activities, in particular within the area of mobile communication. Telenor is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (TEL) and on Nasdaq in New York (TELN).About Adobe Systems IncorporatedAdobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information – anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com.###© 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe, the Adobe logo, Flash, FlashCast and Flash Lite are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

Early timeline of Adobe

Attached is a timeline of Adobe's early history: http://www.adobe.com/cn/aboutadobe/pressroom/pdfs/adobe_timeline_7_9_02.pdf

Adobe Stock Update

ADBE Adobe Systems Incorporated (NASDAQ GS) 12 AM ET 8/3/2007
Time Frame: 1dy 5dy 1mo 6mo 1yr
Go to Charting








Last:
38.75
Bid:
38.75



Change:
-0.77
Ask:
38.76



%Change:
-1.95%
Yield:
n/a



Open:
39.47
P/E Ratio:
40.79



High:
39.66
EPS:
0.95



Low:
38.70




52wk Range: 31.00 to 44.92







Share Related Items


Market cap: 22,801,972,500


Shares out: 588,438,000




Profitability


Gross Margin (1 year): 97.50


Operating Margin (1 year): 34.20


Profit Margin (1 year): 19.60




Management Effectiveness


Return on Equity (1 year): 11.00


Return on Assets (1 year): 9.40


Return on Investment (1 year): 11.00



Valuation ratios


Price/Earnings (1 year): 40.80


Price/Book (1 year): 4.39


Price/Cash Flow (1 year): 25.70

Per Share Data


Earnings (1 year): 0.95


Current P/E Ratio: 40.79


Cash Flow: 1.51


Cash (last quarter): 901,617,000


Annual Dividend: 0.00


Book Value: 8.83


EBITDA: 878,848,000

Thursday, August 2, 2007

Adobe Names New CIO

Adobe Names New Chief Information Officer
For immediate release
Former VeriSign Executive to Head Adobe’s Global Information Services Team
SAN JOSE, Calif. — May 15, 2007 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced Gerri Martin-Flickinger has been named senior vice president and chief information officer. Martin-Flickinger was previously CIO of VeriSign.

Reporting to Mark Garrett, Adobe’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, Martin-Flickinger will oversee Adobe’s global Information Services team, providing strategic direction and management for the company’s IS infrastructure worldwide.

“Gerri’s more than 20 years of IS experience and expertise in leading large-scale global IS organizations will be a great asset as Adobe continues to scale its systems and infrastructure with the company’s growth,” said Garrett.

Martin-Flickinger joined VeriSign, Inc. in 2005 where she oversaw corporate information technology services for the company’s 60 offices worldwide. Prior to joining VeriSign, Martin-Flickinger served as CIO for Network Associates, Inc. and McAfee Associates, Inc. Before joining McAfee in 1997, Martin-Flickinger held several senior systems roles at Chevron Corporation, including serving as process consultant to Chevron’s executive staff.

Martin-Flickinger holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Washington State University.

About Adobe Systems Incorporated
Adobe revolutionizes how the world engages with ideas and information - anytime, anywhere and through any medium. For more information, visit www.adobe.com .

###

© 2007 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. Adobe and the Adobe logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.