Mar 1, 2011 17:20 GMT  ·  By
The experimental Adobe Flash Player 11 Incubator builds adds a new 3D hardware accelerated API
   The experimental Adobe Flash Player 11 Incubator builds adds a new 3D hardware accelerated API

Flash 10.2 has been out less than a month now and Adobe is already releasing a fresher build. However, this latest release, though labeled as Adobe Flash 11.0, is very much in the experimental phase. But if you're developer or just curious about the latest technologies in Flash Player, the new Adobe AIR and Flash Player Incubator program should be what you're looking for.

The first release in the Incubator program is a preview of a future Adobe Flash Player release which adds a couple of experimental APIs, the most interesting of which is a new one for 3D hardware accelerated content.

"The AIR and Flash Player Incubator is a place for the Adobe Flash Runtimes team to share with developers features that are under development or experimental in order to get early participation, testing, and feedback from the community," Adobe announced.

"Incubator builds will contain features under consideration, development, or just experiments. By providing feedback on the features, use cases or things you will create, you will help us shape the future of the Flash runtimes," it explained.

The first Incubator release is labeled as Flash Player 11.0. It comes with two experimental APIs, one for 3D graphics and another to create cubic bezier curves without any ActionScript.

" 'Molehill' 3D APIs - A new set of low-level, GPU-accelerated 3D APIs that enable advanced 3D experiences across devices through the Adobe Flash Platform runtimes," Adobe detailed one of the APIs.

The performance boost the new 3D APIs promise is quite spectacular. While 3D graphics are nothing new for Flash Player, the new API should be able to handle hundreds of thousands of polygons in HD resolutions, as opposed to just thousands now.

While Adobe says that features in the Incubator builds may or may not land in the final releases, it's a safe bet that Molehill will be a leading feature in the upcoming Flash Player 11. With WebGL shaping up as a powerful contender for web 3D graphics, Adobe needed to step up its game.

Adobe Flash Player 11.0 Incubator is available for download here.