With native support for Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) as well as an XHTML-based reflow-centric publication format, Digital Editions delivers an engaging way to acquire, read, and manage content, including eBooks, digital magazines, digital newspapers and other digital publications

Adobe today introduced the public beta of Adobe Digital Editions, a Rich Internet Application (RIA) built from the ground up for digital publishing. Initially available as a free public beta for Windows, Digital Editions will support Macintosh systems as a universal binary application and Linux platforms, as well as mobile phones and other embedded devices in future versions.

"Adobe Digital Editions builds on the ubiquitous reach of PDF and Flash and will further energize the eBook and digital publishing market," said Shantanu Narayen, president and chief operating officer at Adobe. "By creating a specialized, consumer-friendly application like Digital Editions, Adobe is ensuring publishers can securely deliver high-impact content to the widest possible audience, across hardware platforms, operating systems and devices."

Adobe Digital Editions beta will be unveiled at Adobe MAX 2006 on October 24, in Las Vegas, and will be available for free download from the Adobe Labs Web site at http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/digitaleditions. Version 1.0 is expected to be available in early 2007.