Release Notes | Flash Player 11, AIR 3 |

October 4, 2011. Welcome to Adobe® Flash® Player 11 and Adobe® AIR® 3! This release includes new features as well as enhancements and bug fixes related to security, stability, performance, and device compatibility. This document may be updated periodically as more information becomes available. 

Runtime Versions

  • Flash Player Desktop: 11.0.1.152
  • Flash Player Android: 11.0.1.153
  • AIR Desktop and Android:  3.0.0.408
  • AIR SDK (including AIR for iOS):  3.0.0.4080

New Features in Flash Player 11 and AIR 3

Stage 3D Accelerated Graphics Rendering (Player & AIR desktop + AIR for TV) — Stage 3D is a new architecture for hardware accelerated graphics rendering developed that provides a set of low-level APIs that enable advanced 2D and 3D rendering capabilities across screens and devices (desktop, mobile, and TV). Using Stage 3D, app and framework developers can now access high-performance GPU hardware acceleration, enabling the creation of new classes of rich, interactive experiences. Note: Stage 3D for mobile versions of Flash Player & AIR will be enabled in a future release.

Flash Access Content Protection Enhancements — New Flash Access content protection features include key rotation support, V3 license chaining, domain support, and enhanced output protection and device filtering. 

Protected HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS) — Protected HTTP Dynamic Streaming (HDS) provides protection for streaming video across screens while eliminating the deployment complexity of a license server. 

NetStream.dispose() — Similar to NetStream.close() except that it also clears up the last frame held up by NetStream to be displayed on the Video object. Use this instead of NetStream.close() if the NetStream is to be reused for other streams later. It enforces garbage collection of the video frame and related decompressor objects. The video object will display a blank frame after the use of this method.

H.264/AVC Software Encoding for Cameras (desktop) — Stream high-quality video from your computer's camera with higher compression efficiency and industry standard support, enabling both immersive real-time communications, such as video chat/conferencing and live video broadcasts.

JPEG-XR support — Flash Player and AIR now include support for the JPEG-XR advanced image compression standard (International Standard ISO/IEC 29199-2). The computationally lightweight JPEG-XR format provides more efficient compression than JPEG, enables both lossy and lossless compression support, and adds support for alpha channel transparency.

Enhanced high resolution bitmap support — BitmapData objects are no longer limited to a maximum resolution of 16 megapixels (16,777,215 pixels), and maximum bitmap width/height is no longer limited to 8,191 pixels, enabling the development of apps that utilize very large bitmaps.

High efficiency SWF compression support — Developers can now take advantage of LZMA compression for their SWF files. LZMA compression can reduce SWF size by up to 40%, enabling users to benefit from richer experiences with shorter download times and reduced bandwidth consumption.

G.711 Audio Compression for Telephony — Support interoperability with legacy phone systems via the Flash Media Gateway (FMG) and other third-party clients (through the open RTMP protocol) without the need for transcoding.

Native JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) Support — Allows ActionScript developers to take advantage of high-performance native parsing and generation of JSON-formatted data.

Garbage Collection Advice — Provides smoother, more responsive user experiences by allowing developers to provide hints to optimize garbage collection scheduling.

Cubic Bezier Curves — The cubicCurveTo drawing API allows developers to easily create complex cubic Beziers without requiring custom ActionScript code.

Secure Random Number Generator — Developers can now take advantage of cryptographically secure random number generation to build more secure algorithms and protocols.

Socket Progress Events — Improve management of data transfer using the Socket class by providing a new property to determine the number of bytes remaining in the write buffer and a new event for when data is being sent to the network layer. Using these new APIs, developers can build applications such as file transfer utilities that monitor socket progress and provide responsive feedback.

DisplayObjectContainer.removeChildren and MovieClip.isPlaying — DisplayObjectContainer now implements a removeChildren API, allowing developers to quickly remove all of a container's children using a single API call. A new MovieClip.isPlaying property returns the MovieClip's current playing state.

Sound.loadCompressedDataFromByteArray and  Sound.loadPCMFromByteArray — Developers can now inject compressed or raw PCM sound data into a Sound object to play sounds..

New Features in Flash Player 11



Native 64-bit Support (Flash Player desktop)
— Take advantage of native support for 64-bit operating systems and 64-bit web browsers on Linux, Mac OS, and Windows.

Asynchronous Bitmap Decoding (new for Flash Player) — Improve app responsiveness and deliver smoother animation by decoding images on initial load instead of on demand. Images are cached as needed.

TLS Secure Sockets Support (new for Flash Player) — Enables secure communications for client/server applications.

New Features in AIR 3


Native Extensions
— Native extension libraries allow developers to create and use native libraries that can be invoked using ActionScript. These libraries allow ActionScript developers to take advantage of the same platform and device-specific native capabilities and APIs available to native apps, with easy integration into AIR applications. In addition, native extensions can be used for performance-critical code or porting existing native libraries like image decoders for use within an AIR application. 

Flash Access Content Protection Support for AIR Mobile — Flash Access content protection support is now available on mobile devices including Android powered smartphones and tablets. In addition, content protection is now supported on tablet devices powered by the BlackBerry® Tablet OS. Note: Flash Access for iOS is not supported at this time. In addition, Flash Access for Flash Player Android is not supported at this time. 

Encrypted local storage for mobile — Encrypted local storage support is now available on mobile devices. Applications can more securely store sensitive data on a user’s device, enabling support for storage of sensitive data, such as passwords, certificates, and auditing information.

Captive Runtime Support — This popular feature from AIR for iOS is now available with AIR for desktop, Android, and TV. Simplify the app installation process and reduce testing/certification cost by packaging the AIR runtime with your app on Windows, Mac, Android, and TVs. 

Stage Video Hardware Acceleration (AIR Mobile) — Leverage hardware acceleration of the entire video pipeline to deliver efficient, best-in-class high-definition (HD) video playback experiences. Decrease processor usage and enable smoother video, reduced memory usage, and higher fidelity on mobile (supported on Android 3.1, BlackBerry Tablet OS, and iOS) and TV devices. 

H.264/AAC Playback Support (AIR for iOS) — Enables H.264 & AAC playback on iOS when using Stage Video Hardware Acceleration.  This feature requires that video be delivered either through progressive download or HLS.  RTMP is not supported due to platform limitations.

Front-facing Camera Support (AIR for Android) — The front-facing camera support available with AIR for iOS and BlackBerry Tablet OS is now available on Android devices. Take advantage of the front-facing camera to help users connect with rich video conferencing and chat experiences on smartphones and tablets.

Background Audio Playback Support (AIR for iOS) — Developers can now write multitasking iOS applications that can play audio while in the background, such as music applications or reliable voice conferencing apps with multitasking support.

Device Speaker Control for Mobile (AIR for iOS & Android) — Provides developers the ability to select whether audio should be outputted through the phone speaker or external speaker.

16 and 32-bit color depth — Provides an app descriptor setting for developers to control the color depth of graphics on Android (16bit and 32bit) for renderMode=cpu/auto.  AIR 2.7 and earlier namespaces will default to 16-bit color, whereas AIR 3.0 and newer namespaces will default to 32-bit.

Game Controller API (AIR TV) — Allows developers to build TV applications that can communicate with attached game input devices, such as a gamepad or controller wand. Note: This capability is not yet available on AIR for desktop or mobile. 

Known Issues

Stage 3D

  • Mac: On Mac OS X, hardware accelerated rendering is not supported on Intel GMA, ATI Radeon x1600, and ATI Radeon 2400 cards.
  • Stage3D uses the integrated GPU on MacBook Pro’s with Intel i7 or i5 processors (2943979).
  • Hardware accelerated rendering is not supported on VIA chipsets.

Secure Sockets (TLS) and Secure Socket Policy Files:

  • Linux does not contain browser certificates common to the Mac and Windows platforms, which are required in order for Secure Policy Files and TLS to work seamlessly (2827902).
  • CRL in DER format is supported on MAC; CRL in PEM format is not supported.

Flash Player for Android

  • Speex streams with the ns.bufferTime property set to a non-zero value experience a 4-5 second delay when starting (2884740).
  • Due to a a bug related to the hardware AAC decoder on the Samsung Infuse and Epic 4G, audio plays back at a fraction of the intended speed (2884721).

AIR for iOS

  • When an application doing live streaming from camera and playing back as well is relaunched after a screen lock, it remains frozen at the frame where it was when the phone was locked.(2875954)

Flash Access

  • For Flash Access client and server SDK known issues, visit http://help.adobe.com/en_US/flashaccess/3.0/releasenotes.html

Other

 

Authoring for Flash Player 11

To use the new Flash Player, you will need to target SWF version 13 by passing in an extra compiler argument to the Flex compiler: -swf-version=13. Directions are as follows.
If you are using the Adobe Flex SDK:

  • Download the new playerglobal.swc for Flash Player 11.
  • Download Flex 4.5 SDK (4.5.0.20967) from the Flex 4.5 SDK table.
  • Install the build in your development environment
    • In Flash Builder, create a new ActionScript project: File -> New -> ActionScript project.
    • Open the project Properties panel (right-click and chose 'Properties'). Select 'ActionScript Compiler' from the list on the left.
    • Use the 'Configure Flex SDK's' option in the upper-right corner to point the project to Flex build 20967. Click ok.
  • Configure your project to target SWF version 13
    • Open the project Properties panel (right-click and chose 'Properties'). Select 'ActionScript Compiler' from the list on the left.
    • Add to the 'Additional compiler arguments' input: -swf-version=13. This ensures the outputted SWF targets SWF version 13. If you compile on the command line and not in Flash Builder, you need to add the same compiler argument.
    • Ensure you have installed the new Flash Player 11 build in your browser.

Authoring for AIR 3

Update to the AIR 3.0 namespace. You must update your application descriptor file to the 3.0 namespace in order to access the new AIR 3.0 APIs and behavior. If your application does not require the new AIR 3.0 APIs and behavior, you are not required to update the namespace. However, we recommend all users start using the AIR 3.0 namespace even if you are not yet taking advantage of the new 3.0 capabilities. To update the namespace, change the xmlns attribute in your application descriptor to:

<application  xmlns="http://ns.adobe.com/air/application/3.0"> 



System Requirements

For current Flash Player system requirements, visit http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/systemreqs/

For current AIR system requirements, visit http://www.adobe.com/products/air/systemreqs/

For Flash Access system requirements (client and server), visit http://www.adobe.com/products/flashaccess/systemreqs/

Flash Player 11 has the following minimum system requirements:

 

Windows

Macintosh  

Linux

Solaris

Android 

Processor

2.33 Ghz or faster x86-compatible processor, or Intel® Atom™ 1.6 GHz or faster processor for netbook class devices

Intel® Core™  Duo 1.83 GHz or faster processor

2.33 GHz or faster x86-compatible processor, or Intel Atom™ 1.6 GHz or faster processor for netbook class devices

1600 MHz Sun™ UltraSPARC® IIIi or faster processor

ARMv7 processor with Vector FPU, Minimum 550MHz, OpenGL ES2.0, H.264 & AAC H/W Decoders

Operating System 

Microsoft® Windows® XP (32-bit), Windows Server® 2003 (32-bit), Windows Server 2008 (32-bit), Windows Vista® (32-bit), Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Mac OS® X 10.6 and Mac OS X 10.7

Red Hat® Enterprise Linux (RHEL) 5.6 or later (32-bit and 64-bit), openSUSE® 11.3 or later (32-bit and 64-bit), Ubuntu 10.04 or later (32-bit and 64-bit)

Solaris™ 10

Android 2.2, 2.3, 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2

Browser

Internet Explorer 7.0 and later, Mozilla Firefox 4.0 and later, Google Chrome, Safari 5.0 and later, Opera 11

Safari 5.0 and later, Mozilla Firefox 4.0 and later, Google Chrome, Opera 11

Mozilla Firefox 4.0 and later, Google Chrome

Mozilla Firefox 4 and later

Android web browser

Memory

128MB of RAM (1GB RAM recommended for netbook class devices), 128MB of graphics memory

512MB of RAM, 128MB of graphics memory

512MB of RAM, 128MB of graphics memory

2GB of RAM

256MB RAM 

AIR 3 has the following minimum system requirements:

 

Windows

Macintosh  

Android 

iOS

Processor / Device Hardware

2.33 GHz or faster x86-compatible processor or Intel Atom™ 1.6 GHz or faster processor for netbook class devices

Intel® Core™  Duo 1.83 GHz or faster processor

ARMv7 processor with Vector FPU, Minimum 550 MHz, OpenGL ES2.0, H.264 & AAC H/W Decoders

iPod touch (3rd generation) 32GB and 64GB model, iPod touch 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPad, iPad 2

Operating System 

Microsoft® Windows® XP, Windows Server® 2003, Windows Server® 2008, Windows Vista® Home Premium, Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise (including 64-bit editions) with Service Pack 2, or Windows 7

Mac OS® X 10.6 and 10.7

Android 2.2, 2.3, 3.0, 3.1, and 3.2

iOS 4 and later

RAM

512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)

512MB of RAM (1GB recommended)

256MB RAM 

 -

Reporting Issues

Found a bug? Please submit a bug to the Flash Player and Adobe AIR bug database.

Flash Player and AIR may leverage your graphics hardware to decode and play H.264 video. There may be video issues that can only be reproduced with your particular graphics hardware and driver. When reporting an issue involving video, it is essential to note your graphics hardware and driver, along with your operating system and browser (when using Flash Player), so that we can reproduce and investigate issues. Please be sure to include this information as described in Instructions for Reporting Video Playback Issues. Note: Due to the high volume of email we receive, we are unable to respond to every request.

Thank you for using Adobe Flash Player and AIR, and for taking the time to send us your feedback!

 Adobe

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