Adobe today launched the latest version of its near ubiquitous Web video software, Adobe Flash Player 9. It's codenamed Moviestar, because it includes H.264 standard video support - the same standard deployed in Blu-Ray and HD-DVD high definition video players.

Link to article "Adobe Extends Web Video Leadership With H.264 Support"

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070821/20070820006124.html?.v=1

Also check:

http://www.kaourantin.net/2007/08/what-jus...-on-web_20.html

Adobe Launches "Moviestar" Version of Flash Player - HD Television Quality for Web Video

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/adobe...iestar_h264.php

The player seems to be out now ...

This is a sad statement:
"... it is a higher quality audio, but at a lower bit rate."

This is always the claim about new codecs, audio or video. Notice how nobody touts keeping the bitrate the same, and devoting the codec's advancement entirely to quality.

It really doesn't matter. Flash 9 has been out for quite some time now, and yet the vast majority of flash video players online still use Flash 7. This is because 7 was the latest version for OSX and Linux until fairly recently, and the penetration of Flash 9 just isn't high enough yet.

Anyway, seen as all the major sites still haven't moved their video technology to Flash 8 or Flash 9, it'll be years before we see widespread adoption of this new H.264 support.

H.264 content is probably going to play too slow on my computer. Upgrading to at least a quad core CPU or better because it does not support hardware acceleration may not be an option for a while.

I wonder if this version will have some kind of DRM support, as was rumored before. It sucks for consumers, but major players will not adopt without it.