Adobe Bringing "Creative Applications" To PlayBook

The BlackBerry PlayBook has been criticized for its shortage of applications – even having to turn to Android later in 2011 to make up the shortfall – but it could get some salvation among artistic types with Adobe's help. Taking to the stage with RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis at BlackBerry World 2011, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen confirmed that the company would bring its "creative applications" to the tablet.

It's not clear at this stage which Adobe apps will actually make the leap. Photoshop or the Creative Suite would certainly help differentiate the PlayBook from the rest of the tablets out there, though the Adobe Touch SDK will at least see slates like the iPad and, in future, Android models integrate better with the company's desktop software.

As it stands, many of RIM's new apps for the PlayBook are written using Adobe AIR – such as the Facebook app announced yesterday - and Adobe also announced that Creative Suite 5.5 is shipping today with support for PlayBook apps out of the box. Estimated street price for the suites is US$2599 for CS5.5 Master Collection, US$1899 for CS5.5 Design Premium, US$1799 for CS5.5 Web Premium, US$1699 for CS5.5 Production Premium and US$1299 for CS5.5 Design Standard.