Adobe Systems today introduced Acrobat.com , a suite of hosted services available as public beta for free signup, that put communication, productivity, and collaboration tools right within a Web browser. Much like Adobe® Acrobat® software enabled the publishing of high-quality electronic documents that anyone can read, Acrobat.com enables individuals to truly work collaboratively on electronic documents. Acrobat.com is a set of online services — file sharing and storage, PDF converter, online word processor, and Web conferencing — that take advantage of PDF, Adobe Flash® and Adobe AIR™ technologies to deliver engaging online experiences that go well beyond traditional office productivity tools. Also accessible through Adobe Acrobat 9 software (see separate release issued today), Acrobat.com delivers a new way for people to work together online.

The hosted services in Acrobat.com include:

- Adobe Buzzword®, a Web-based word processor that can be used to easily co-author and share documents for comment and review, creating high-quality print results;

- Adobe ConnectNow, a personal Web conferencing service that includes desktop sharing, video and voice conferencing and integrated chat;

- Centralized online file sharing with access controls, online PDF conversion for up to five documents, and support for high quality, Web-embeddable documents;

- Developer APIs for real-time collaboration, file sharing and conversion.

In addition, Acrobat.com gives Acrobat 9 users access to a “personal workspace in the clouds” that is available from virtually anywhere for working with others online. Acrobat 9 users can work with Acrobat.com as a central location for sharing forms and collecting forms data, conducting shared reviews, and co-navigating a PDF document with colleagues.

Acrobat.com also works with Adobe Reader® 9 software, giving Adobe Reader 9 users easy access to Acrobat.com so they can share files, convert up to five documents to PDF online and participate in electronic forms and shared reviews initiated by Acrobat 9 us