Forbidden Technologies launches Cloud video editing software on Google's Android

Forbidden Technologies FBT , the company behind the development of Cloud-based video editing software, has launched a new version of its system specifically for tablet computers that use Google's Android operating system. As part of the move, Forbidden has worked up a new version of its consumer-focused Clesh system, which is adapted from its flagship FORscene Cloud video platform. The Forbidden Technologies share price responded with a 2.8% rise to 36p.

The move is an important one for the company because Android is widely expected to play a major role in the burgeoning market for tablet PCs and smart phones. According to the latest research from US consulting firm Strategy Analytics, global tablet shipments reached 10m units in the fourth quarter of 2010. While Apple AAPL maintained first position, Android soared and captured a record 22% global share. Strategy Analytics said it expected that figure to keep rising during the first half of 2011. The explosion in the availability and sale of tablet PCs recently led Warren East, chief executive of chip-maker Arm Holdings ARM , to suggest that the market for such devices could grow to as much as 60m unit sales this year.

Much of Android's success last year was down to Samsung's Galaxy Tab, which was launched in dozens of countries and promoted heavily by the tech giant. However, several new models from major vendors are scheduled to hit retail stores, such as the Motorola Xoom. The release of the Samsung Galaxy Tab enabled Forbidden to develop its Android tablet version of Clesh. The built in camera and Cloud access enable an end-to-end consumer workflow, including shooting, editing, publishing to Cloud services such as Facebook, and playback on both the tablet itself and on multiple third party consumer devices. Clesh edits are synchronised with the Cloud and are immediately available from any PC, Mac or tablet running Clesh. Clesh will be available as an app to download from the Google Market from today, for £2.49.

Forbidden's professional offering, FORscene, had by the first half of last year already handled over 1,000,000 hours of professionally shot content. FORscene's ability to add metadata for search is widely used by its professional customers to speed up editing. In Clesh, this facility can make consumer videos created in Clesh readily accessible to search engines.

Stephen Streater, the chief executive of Forbidden, said: “We are delighted to launch the Android tablet version of Clesh. The tablet design, with its high resolution camera and touch screen, is well suited for the intuitive Clesh drag-and-drop user interface. Today's launch will enable us to address an exciting area of the consumer video editing market. Many consumers now have multiple Internet-enabled devices - PCs and Macs at home and work, mobile phones, netbooks and now tablets. The access the Cloud gives people to their data gives consumers a real incentive to use Cloud-based applications. They are accessible everywhere, at anytime, across their multiple devices. Forbidden is at the forefront of the new technology explosion which includes mobile devices, internet video and social networking and has positioned itself to ride the wave of the remarkable shift in the ways consumers interact with this technology via their personal media devices.”

Stockopedia