Macromedia today unveiled a public beta release of Macromedia Central, providing a new way for people to interact with Internet information without relying on a continuous connection. Macromedia made the public beta available today on One Unwired Day, sponsored by Intel, to showcase the possibilities of life without wires.
Central delivers a new kind of Internet experience, which brings information you're most interested in directly to you. Central offers a clean, unified place for Internet applications including a customizable console for your most important information and a host of other features that help you save time and work faster.
"Macromedia Central represents an important step forward in the way people can interact with information on the Internet, scaling to fit their interest," said Kevin Lynch, chief software architect, Macromedia. "Central provides an environment for developers to make applications that provide this great experience both online and offline."
"Intel is committed to delivering solutions such as Intel Centrino mobile technology that help consumers be productive in an unwired world," said Ann Lewnes, vice president sales and marketing group and director, Intel Inside Program and co-marketing. "Intel and Macromedia share a vision of how the future of Internet applications will work in a world without wires on development platforms without boundaries."
Today's Central public beta includes two initial beta applications: Movie Finder and AccuWeather. These applications will be part of a larger application library being created by third parties for Central. Since the start of the initial beta program this summer, close to 1,000 developers have joined the application development community for Central.
Movie Finder provides access to film ratings, showtimes, ticket purchasing, and DVD rental services. It integrates information from Tribune Media Services, Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes and Netflix. AccuWeather provides five-day forecasts, notification about specific weather conditions, and conveniently displays it in Central pods.
"I'm excited to create applications for Central because they'll have distinct advantages over conventional web applications," said Phillip Kerman, application developer and author of "Flash for Rich Internet Applications." "As a platform, Central removes boundaries to let you create applications that go beyond what we traditionally consider possible for web applications. Best of all, Central applications will easily reach my customers."
The developer program for Central will transition to a public SDK beta next month, enabling anyone to create applications. The next update of Central will ship later this year along with additional applications.
Intel, leading wireless service providers and hotspot locations are joining together to provide free WiFi access at thousands of locations nationwide on September 25. Called One Unwired Day, the event will showcase the benefits of the unwired lifestyle and the extensive network of WiFi hotspots verified to be compatible with laptops based on Intel Centrino mobile technology. People can find a local participating public WiFi hotspot by visiting intel.com/unwire and using the hotspot finder or by looking for One Unwired Day signs at participating locations on Sept. 25.
Experience matters. Macromedia is motivated by the belief that great experiences build great businesses. Our software empowers millions of business users, developers, and designers to create and deliver effective, compelling, and memorable experiences -- on the Internet, on fixed media, on wireless, and on digital devices.
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