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Adobe Youth Voices celebrates creativity with India’s Gen-Next

Marks the completion of a successful 4th year

Adobe Youth Voices

Adobe Youth Voices, the signature philanthropic initiative by Adobe Foundation, today announced the completion of its fourth successful year of celebrating young talent and creativity. The program brings together children of ages 13-18 and engages them in a variety of activities where they learn to use some of the most breathtaking technologies available today. A partnership between Adobe Foundation and American India Foundation, the program encourages children to explore novel ways of expressing their ideas and take proactive action in their communities.

The program is part of the Adobe Foundation’s global initiative, currently being run in 45 countries around the world. In India, it currently brings together more than 1000 children from 31 participating schools and non-profit organizations in the National Capital Region and Bangalore. American India Foundation has been Adobe Youth Voice’s partner since 2007 in India.

During the event, Adobe and the American India Foundation screened the documentaries and photo essays created by the participants from different parts of Delhi NCR addressing socio-economic, environment and other community issues. A certificate of participation was awarded to each student at the function.

“When given the opportunities, it’s inspiring to see how these young people put their energies and considerable creativity towards making a difference to the world they live in. The Adobe Youth Voices program in India has been influential in creating a myriad of possibilities in an often inaccessible area for underprivileged youth. An increased sense of confidence pushes them to go ahead and achieve their dreams, despite their current circumstances,” said Mr. Naresh Gupta, managing director, Adobe India, and senior vice president, Print and Publishing Solutions Business Unit. “It is encouraging to see the efforts put in by AIF and the school teachers under the AYV program to empower young people with critical skills to become active and engaged members of their communities.”

Engaging young people in exciting and meaningful new ways, Adobe Youth Voices provides an opportunity for middle and high school youth to communicate their concerns, aspirations, and vision. The program provides youth with a forum to share their vision and voice on community issues through media like documentary films, photo essays and other art work prepared using state-of-the-art technologies and flagship Adobe software.

“The Adobe Youth Voices program gives these young people a chance to create and showcase high-impact art work through the use of path-breaking technologies. It’s a proud moment for all of us associated with this special program; to be able to provide such a platform where young people can work collaboratively and innovatively explore modern methods of self-expression,” said Mr. Miguel Salinas, Senior Manager, Adobe Youth Voices.

“We are proud to partner with Adobe and be able to reach out to the under-served youth. The impact on the students as well as the teachers has been tremendous. The Adobe Youth Voices program has  effectively instilled a strong sense of belief in the talent and potential of  under-served young people in this region, and helped them to realize their power to express ideas more persuasively,” said Mr. Tarun Vij, Country Director, American India Foundation.

India has a pressing need to advance its education system with the use of digital technologies, to equip the young with tools that will help them learn and express themselves better and to participate effectively in a connected, global economy.  Research conducted recently, by the MacArthur Foundation, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, and Pew Research Centers finds that access to information through the Internet and, increasingly, through hand-held technologies, help students to learn about the world anytime, anywhere and not just in their classrooms during the school week. With increasing access to the web, digital literacy is not only a step towards bridging the gap between the haves and the have not’s but also takes learning to a whole new level.

Adobe Youth Voices equips students with critical knowledge and skill set required to compete today. The program enables them to think analytically, communicate effectively and work collaboratively.

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Adobe to unleash AIR 2.0

Adobe to unleash AIR 2.0 and Flash Player 10.1 for Smart Phones soon

Adobe Systems will be rolling out its Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and Flash Player for the mobile phones soon. The company demonstrated the AIR 2.0 version and Flash Player 10.1 version at the recently concluded Mobile World Congress 2010 held in Barcelona.

Adobe plans to release the AIR 2.0 version for the Google’s Android-powered smartphones to be made available by the second quarter of this year. Adobe AIR 2 extends the mobile capabilities of Flash Player 10.1 by delivering rich applications outside the browser and across multiple operating systems. AIR supports online and offline use cases for improved application reliability and access, enhanced app security models, and new support for geo-location (GPS).

AIR 2.0 is currently available as a beta release for Mac, Windows, and Linux desktops.

Also previewed at the conference was the Flash Player 10.1 for mobile devices. Adobe Flash Player 10.1 enables uncompromised web browsing of expressive applications, content, and video across devices. With support for a broad range of mobile devices—including smartphones, netbooks, and other Internet-connected devices—Flash Player 10.1 allows your content to reach your customers wherever they are.

Adobe, also, released a beta of version of Flash Player 10.1 recently to mobile developers and mobile content providers. The Flash Player 10.1 is expected to be available by July-end in the desktop versions for Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, and Solaris as well as mobile version for Windows Mobile, Android, Palm WebOS, Symbian, and BlackBerry powered handsets.

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