• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, June 1, 2010

Aiming to work around Apple's Flash ban, Adobe Tuesday unveiled new digital viewer technology to help publishers adapt magazines to an interactive format tailored to the iPad and other mobile devices.

Adobe's new publishing software debuted last week with the launch of Wired's digital edition for the iPad, featuring a variety of interactive and multimedia elements in support of traditional editorial content.

Adobe says its digital publishing platform built on its InDesign software and Omniture technologies will soon be available to other publishers, allowing them to deliver different versions of magazines across multiple hardware systems.

Plans to release the new Wired application in Adobe's Flash were abandoned after Apple imposed a ban on third-party tools that would allow programs to be ported from other formats to the iPhone operating system. Instead, the Wired e-edition was coded in Objective-C, the main programming language for software running on Apple devices.

Apple has taken an increasingly hard line against Flash on the grounds that the software that powers much of the video and rich media on the Web is prone to problems with reliability, performance and security. Adobe has rejected Apple's criticisms of Flash, suggesting that the company simply wants to maintain a closed system for its own benefit.

For magazine publishers caught in the middle of the Adobe-Apple feud, the main goal is still to launch new versions for the iPad and other tablet devices. That effort may take on more urgency with Apple announcing Monday that two million iPads have been sold since it went on sale widely April 3. The disclosure caused some analysts to revise upward their estimates for iPad sales this year.

Having successfully launched the $4.99 Wired app, Conde Nast for one plans to go forward with more digital editions. "Our work with Adobe is just beginning. We expect to use this technology to deliver more of our publications over the coming months," said Thomas J. Wallace, editorial director for the publisher.

A Conde Nast spokesperson declined to provide further detail on the company's plans for further digital versions of its titles. The company had previously introduced iPhone and iPad apps for GQ and Vanity Fair, but not using the same technology as the new Wired offering.

Other publishers such as Bonnier and Rodale have also launched iPad apps, for titles including Popular Science and Men's Health, respectively.