Adobe just announced its acquisition of HTML5 specialist Nitobi and font company Typekit. Purchasing these two companies is a pretty strategic move on the part Adobe, as it will offer the software giant better Web standards including HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
Now for those of you who don’t know who or what Nitobi and Typekit is, let me explain. Nitobi makes Phonegap, and open-source programming tool for creating Web apps that run on a variety of mobile phones. Typekit on the other hand, is Web-based typography which offers subscriptions to those who want to use sophisticated fonts on the Web with new abilities in CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). This is something Adobe is all too familiar with and it voiced its thoughts on both acquisitions.
Danny Winokur, Adobe’s platform general manager, had this statement about Nitobi from a release:
PhoneGap is a fantastic solution for developing a broad range of mobile apps using the latest Web standards, and is already integrated with Dreamweaver CS5.5 [the latest version of Adobe’s Web site creation tool]. It’s a perfect complement to Adobe’s broad family of developer solutions, including Adobe AIR, and will allow us to continue to provide content publishers and developers with the best, cutting-edge solutions for creating innovative applications across platforms and devices.
Dropping a little knowledge on the company’s purchase of Typekit, Lea Hickman, vice president of product management at Adobe, had this to offer in a statement from a release:
Typography is a fundamental design element and something that designers want to be more creative with on websites – especially as these websites now need to be viewed on mobile devices. Working closely with type foundries, the Typekit team has delivered an outstanding service, empowering designers to present the power of the printed word in new ways – online and on devices.
There is no question these two companies will help propel Adobe in the conversation, when it comes to “new-age technology.” HTML5 is shaping up to be the future of mobile as big companies like Adobe begin to revamp its approach.
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