Adobe has announced the latest update for Adobe Flash Player 9 software, code-named Moviestar, which includes H.264 standard video support - the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray and HD DVD high definition video players - and High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio support, as well as hardware accelerated, multi-core enhanced full screen video playback.

H.264 encoding is already available in Adobe Premiere Pro and Adobe After Effects software. H.264 playback will be supported by the Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR) and applications developed with Adobe AIR software, including Adobe Media Player.

"Adobe is committed to providing a seamless creation-to-playback solution that allows creatives and developers to produce video and rich-media once, and then deploy that content across the widest array of distribution and playback environments", said John Loiacono, senior vice president of Creative Solutions at Adobe.

"Already a broadly adopted industry standard, the inclusion of the H.264 codec in Adobe Flash Player, Adobe AIR, the Creative Suite product line, and the upcoming Adobe Media Player will accelerate customer workflows, enabling the creation and repurpose of high-quality Web video content without extra development costs."

The public beta version of the update to Adobe Flash Player 9 software, which includes the H.264 and HE-AAC functionality, will be available later today as a free download from Adobe Labs via the link below. The final release is expected to be available via update later this autumn.

>> Link - Adobe