Adobe updates Acrobat.com

New features including spreadsheet app

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15 June 2009 22:19 GMT / By Stuart Miles

A year after its launch, Adobe has announced a major update to its Acrobat.com website in the US, as it ups the ante against online document sharing sites like Google Docs.

The site, which has moved out of public beta, will offer Americans two new, paid subscription services that, say Adobe, add capacity and capabilities for intensive business use.

However beyond the new paid for features, that will only be available to US citizens, Adobe says it plans to add new features including shared team workspaces and smartphone access, as well as a spreadsheet-like application, Acrobat.com Tables.

“Over the next 12 months, we will continue to add powerful yet simple-to-use team collaboration capabilities that establish a new way to work, while removing barriers to getting work done within and across companies and around the world”, promised Rob Tarkoff, senior vice president, Adobe’s Business Productivity Business Unit in a statement from the company.

Adobe says it will add support for iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia and Windows Mobile smartphones.

Adobe today also announced the preview release of Acrobat.com Tables, a spreadsheet-like application that is available immediately for free sign-up as a public beta.

Acrobat.com Tables plans to provide people with a new way to work with others on data-intensive documents – such as task lists, schedules, contacts, budgets and sales numbers – that are typically created and shared in spreadsheets or simple databases.

The Premium Basic subscription is available for $14.99 a month, or $149 a year.

The Premium Plus subscription is available for $39 a month, or $390 a year. Until 16 July, 2009, Adobe is offering $15 off the Premium Basic annual plan, and $50 off the Premium Plus annual plan.

The new premium services include Adobe ConnectNow Web meeting capacity for up to five participants, and online conversion of 10 uploaded documents to PDF per month.The Premium Plus service includes ConnectNow Web meeting capacity for up to 20 participants and unlimited online creation of PDF files.

The free service will continue to offer Adobe Buzzword online word processing, ConnectNow Web meeting capacity for up to three participants, and online creation of up to five PDF files.