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Adobe has just released Flash Player 10, the software which allow users to punch monkeys to win free iPods*, and thus makes the internet possible. The software was released on the same day that Adobe Creative Suite 4 was shipped, and a day after Microsoft released Silverlight 2, which is Flash’s primary competition for creating Rich Internet Applications (“monkey punching,” see above).

For developers, new key features of Flash Player 10 include:

• 3D Effects - Easily transform and animate any display object through 3D space while retaining full interactivity. Fast, lightweight, and native 3D effects make motion that was previously reserved for expert users available to everyone. Complex effects are simple with APIs that extend what you already know.
• Custom Filters and Effects - Create and share your own portable filters, blend modes, and fills using Adobe Pixel Bender™, the same technology used for many After Effects CS3 filters. Shaders in Flash Player are about 1KB and can be scripted and animated at runtime.
• Advanced Text Layout - A new, highly flexible text layout engine, co-existing with TextField, enables innovation in creating new text controls by providing low-level access to text offering right-to-left and vertical text layout, plus support for typographic elements like ligatures.
• Enhanced Drawing API - Runtime drawing is easier and more powerful with re-styleable properties, 3D APIs, and a new way of drawing sophisticated shapes without having to code them line by line.
• Visual Performance Improvements - Applications and videos will run smoother and faster with expanded use of hardware acceleration. By moving several visual processing tasks to the video card, the CPU is free to do more.
• Enhanced Sound APIs - Work with loaded MP3 audio at a lower level in Flash Player 10.  The new APIs will let you do application-level audio mixing through ActionScript and even audio filtering with Adobe Pixel Bender.

Users can download Flash 10 Player at the Adobe site.

Product [Flash Player 10]

* Punch the monkey and win an iPod!!!**
** Note: You will not win an iPod.