Adobe releases Flash 11 and AIR 3 betas

Adobe has released betas of both Flash 11 and Air 3 for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux. The new features that caught my eye right away include full 64-bit support for Flash Player running in browsers (even in Linux!) and support for delivery of full HD video with 7.1 surround sound to AIR-powered TVs.

I haven't tested these betas out; I use Click2Flash to block 99 percent of the Flash content I come across these days and force it to play in a more CPU- and battery-friendly format instead. For the curious among you, you can head to Adobe's site and download the new betas. Some of the key features for Flash Player 11 are printed below.

• Stage3D APIs -- Create highly interactive visuals to improve collaboration on 3-dimensional models.

• 64-bit support -- Support for 64-bit operating systems and browsers on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows.

• G.711 audio compression for telephony -- Integrate voice/telephony into business apps using G.711 codec.

• H.264/AVC SW Encoding -- Encode higher quality video locally using H.264 video.

• Socket Progress Events -- Build advanced file sharing apps like FTP clients that send large amounts of data.

• HD surround sound -- Deliver full HD videos with 7.1 channel surround sound directly to AIR powered TVs.