October 6, 2007 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – With its recent purchase of Virtual Ubiquity, the company that developed Buzzword, a web-based word processing option that allows multiple users to work on the same documents, Adobe has underscored a general trend of companies providing a web hosting role by offering online, rather than packaged offerings.
Terms of the purchase were not disclosed and Adobe will finalize the purchase before the end of November. According to a number of reports, the purchase is part of a broader Adobe Internet platform strategy. Adobe has committed to keeping Virtual Ubiquity's employees where possible.
With its purchase, Adobe is now toe-to-toe with Google and Microsoft, both of whom have brought software online. Google’s Apps option provides personalized/customized online email and collaboration tools such as Google Calendar, Google Talk and the all-important Google Docs (which now offer presentations alongside spreadsheets and collaborative document options). Microsoft in turn offers Office Live Workspace - an online "companion to Microsoft Office" including online document viewing. The company also offers Office Live Small Business - what the company bills as "everything you need to take your small business online".
Buzzword is a natural choice for the Adobe as it was developed using Adobe's Flex software and utilizes its Flash Player technology. Adobe has also announced a new file-sharing service called "Share". The free service is currently in beta and allows users to create, share and publish documents online.
