Adobe's Resources: Contextual Solutions, Rich internet applications across devices, and Open Screen.

I thought I'd share a few interesting resources from Adobe.  The company is focused on the future, and I plan to watch what unfolds.  Adobe believes that the next generation of the company's products will move us forward to a world of seamless access to content, across screens of all sizes, everywhere we go.

I'm hoping that this will not lead to an environment where we have difficulty escaping "skip intro" ads everywhere we turn.  Hopefully it won't be too bad!

I found a few gems of wisdom in the Adobe white paper,   Designing Contextual Solutions and Applications.  The paper provides a conceptual framework that I think would be helpful to web designers/developers who are interested in off-the-desktop application development.


Here is an excerpt from the introduction of the white paper:
"With its platforms and products that are inherently multichannel and multidevice, Adobe envisions a new class of “contextual solutions” taking hold in the marketplace. These solutions are broader in scope than a device, a campaign, or a single service; rather, they encapsulate the various contexts in which the end user exists, interacts, thinks, consumes, and purchases. And when content owners understand the different types of users and how they differ in their contexts, they are in a much better position to design experiences that are compelling and sticky. At the heart of every contextual solution is at least one or more contextual applications—an emerging type of application that spans multiple devices and uses system, user, and network contexts to provide an optimized user experience and deliver improved business results.

This white paper provides an overview of the types of contexts that compose a contextual solution and application. With examples given along the way, it culminates with a framework for considering all appropriate contexts while designing and developing a new contextual solution or an application that is part of an existing solution."


Another Adobe white paper is quite useful - Rich Internet Applications across devices: The emergence of contextual applications.  It provides examples of RIA's across devices, such as Amazon Video On Demand,  Demandbase, Atlantic Records: Fanbase, Finetune, and Times Reader 2.0.

Additional Adobe Resources
Contextual Applications
Open Screen Project:  "Singular experience, multiple devices"
Adobe Flash Platform