Adobe's good week (Apple Talk Weekly) - By Aby Benedict

Machinarium, a Flash game repackaged for iOS, topped the iPad top-sales charts   



This is typically the time of year when Apple breaks out its latest crop of iPods and updates to its iTunes software. Now, all signs point to Apple gearing up for the launch of its next iPhone instead. Given that, it's worth briefly turning our attention to Adobe, which had a particularly good week on Apple's platforms.

Let's start off with Adobe's Flash, which continues to not run on Apple's iOS hardware. Despite that hurdle, Flash-derived game Machinarium this week hit the No. 1 spot in Apple's paid apps category on the App Store. The $5 title, which was originally launched on on Adobe Flash, was recompiled for Apple's iOS, giving gamers a chance to play a game they couldn't in the browser that ships on the iPad.

Adobe also updated its Flash Media Server software this week, adding support for Apple's iOS. As David Meyer explains over on ZDNet, the software now lets broadcasters stream Flash video content in Apple's HTTP Live Streaming format, so it will work on iPhones, iPads and iPods. Worth noting is that the technology is only good for video content, and not things like Flash-based sites and games, where products like iSwifter, Skyfire, and Photon can fill in those gaps using a similar streaming-based approach.

Finally, there's Adobe Premiere, which the company says has seen a sales pick-up following Apple's introduction of Final Cut Pro X in June. In a press release covering its announcements at the IBC Conference in Amsterdam this week, Adobe said it has seen 45 percent growth of its Creative Suit 5.5: Production Premium product on the Mac. Adobe attributed that gain to the Final Cut switcher program it introduced in July that gives Apple Final Cut Pro and Avid Media Composer users a 50 percent off discount for switching.