Adobe Device Central

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Adobe Device Central

Developer:	Adobe Systems
Latest release:	CS3 / March 2007
OS:	Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows
Use:	Mobile device authoring
License:	Proprietary
Website:	Adobe Device Central

Adobe Device Central is a software program created and released by Adobe Systems as a part of the Adobe Creative Suite 3 (CS3) in March 2007. Its primary purpose is to integrate parts of the Creative Suite together to offer both professional and individual web designers an easier way to create WAP sites for mobile devices. It is accessible from all other components of the Creative Suite.

Device Central is also included with the standalone Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended, Illustrator CS3, Flash CS3 Professional, Dreamweaver CS3, After Effects CS3 and Premiere Pro CS3 applications.

Device Central provides designers and coders a comprehensive testing facility that approximates how pages and graphics will look on different cell phones which have different screen resolutions, color depths, memory constraints, and other performance characteristics. It simplifies the mobile authoring workflow and allows developers to preview designs and test content on the desktop before loading it on the mobile devices for final testing. A library of mobile device profiles on Device Central are updated quarterly, with an initial support for over 200 devices at launch.

Device Central has many other functions such as rescaling graphics, simulating a mobile phone's backlight dimming, adding artificial screen reflections and changing the color balance, allowing artists to tune their graphics in different conditions without extraneous footwork.