In what has been widely interpreted as an attack on the Kindle's use of a proprietary format, Adobe issued a statement demonstrating its support for the ePub open standard.

To underline its point, the US-based software giant took the additional step of outlining the strength of support for its digital publishing software, all of which is geared towards the ePub and PDF open standards.

Adobe said that it was "driving the adoption of the ePub open standard" for eBook content through products such as InDesign CS4, Digital Editions, Content Server 4, and the Adobe Reader Mobile Software Developer Kit (SDK).

According to the US-based software company, around 20 e-book reader manufacturers have licensed the Adobe Reader Mobile SDK to enable PDF and ePub support on their devices.

The Adobe Reader Mobile SDK enables manufacturers to develop smartphones and readers that can easily download, manage and display PDF and ePub content.

Adobe said this would "further industry efforts to accelerate e-book standardisation on the ePub open format".

John Loiacono, senior vice-president of Adobe's Creative Solutions division, said: "With support of the open ePub standard across our digital publishing solutions, publishers can integrate e-books into their digital content distribution strategies and build new businesses around their creative assets."

"New eBook hardware is exciting consumers this holiday season and Adobe technology will ensure there will be new digital titles coming on the market every week to help grow this market."