Adobe launches online presentation software

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 28 May 2009 at 11:50

Adobe has launched a free, online presentation tool, pithily dubbed Presentations.

The company claims Presentations is only "proof of concept" at the moment and so lacking a number of features you'd find in a fully-fledged piece of presentation software such as PowerPoint.

Features currently on the missing list are clip art, tables and charts and access permissions. However, the big draw of Presentations, according to Adobe, is the ability for multiple users to collaborate on a project. Each user working on a document is given an icon, which appears on whatever slide that person is working on. Users can then choose to lock out other people from editing the slide if they wish.

"With simultaneous editing capabilities, no one is locked out of the presentation while others are making changes," says Adobe. "The application also makes it easy to see who has access to the presentation, who is viewing, who is editing and which slide each person is editing."

"The application includes built-in tools and layouts for adding visually appealing elements, such as pre-defined colour sets, intelligent image placement and graphic tools for creating diagrams and adding effects."

Presentations joins Buzzword and Photoshop.com in Adobe's growing portfolio of Flash-based online office tools.