Adobe Buys Rich Media Delivery Service

Adobe  said it will acquire rich-media applications delivery vendor Scene7. The acquisition gives the digital document company another weapon in its battle with Microsoft  to win over the hearts, minds and desktops of creative designers and marketers.

Adobe said it plans to offer technology developed by Scene7 to extend its ability to deliver its suite of flagship development applications, which include Flash, Dreamweaver, PhotoShop and Illustrator.

Scene7 applications allow media companies and marketing departments to automate the production and availability of rich media experiences, including zoom, dynamic sizing, personalization and interactive dynamic product catalogs.

Adobe said it will add those applications to its own arsenal. But the key to the acquisition is clearly the technology developed by Scene7 to deliver its particular flavor of rich Internet applications (RIAs) in an on-demand manner.

John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe, said Scene7 has developed a sophisticated system to support the online delivery of high-fidelity imagery and dynamic assets. “This acquisition will help Adobe build out a robust Internet infrastructure,” he said in a statement.

Adobe has taken an early leadership position with regards to supporting RIAs. It recently launched the first public beta of Apollo, which is intended to help developers create Internet applications that function on the desktop, as opposed to within a browser.

The advantage of this is that users can have a richer experience outside the browser, and can work with an application even when they’re offline.

Microsoft is not leaving the field to Adobe, however, and has introduced SilverLight, as well as new cross-browser applications as part of its a Expressionline of creative software.

Adobe also unveiled a cross-platform development environment named Flex last year. But its collision course with Microsoft was truly set with its April 2005 acquisition of Macromedia.

Adobe did not disclose the terms of the acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of May 2007.