Adobe Systems announced Wednesday that it is releasing a new HTML5 tool set for web designers and developers as an add-on to its Creative Suite 5. The move follows weeks of verbal jousts between Adobe and Apple over the latter’s insistence that HTML5 and other solutions be used for interactive multimedia on the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad, rather than Adobe’s popular Flash technology.
The announcement was made at Google’s third annual I/O developers conference, now taking place in San Francisco. Google has also promoted the use of HTML5, but Flash is expected to be supported by the next version of the search giant’s Android mobile operating system.
Code Hinting, CSS3
The Adobe HTML5 Pack is an extension to Dreamweaver CS5, the newest version of its web authoring tool. The company said the new tools will enable developers and designers to “more easily create, deliver and optimize compelling content” across a wide range of platforms and screen sizes. The extension is offered as a free download.
The extension includes code hinting for HTML5 and CSS3, so Dreamweaver users can more easily use the new HTML5 tags. There are also WebKit engine updates and support for video and audio in Dreamweaver’s Live View. New CSS3 functions enable users to design multiple web pages and see how they will look and operate on various browsers and devices, and there are HTML5 starter layouts.
The Adobe-Apple battle over Flash has heated up in the last few weeks. A recent open letter to Apple from Adobe cofounders John Warnock and Chuck Geschke accused the maker of the iPhone, iPod and iPad of undermining “the next chapter of the web.”
Adobe published the letter on its Web site and launched an advertising campaign. Some of the ads were placed in The New York Times, The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, The…