Adobe announced the upcoming availability of Flash 11 as well as AIR 3 on a variety of platforms, including Android, iOS (via AIR), BlackBerry Tablet OS, Mac OS and Windows, for early October.  The next Flash platform includes a new hardware-accelerated 3D rendering engine called Stage 3D that the company says is 1,000 times faster than Flash Player 10.

Flash 11 won’t just be a case of driving up the numbers with a few security fixes here and there.  The latest version will see new features and functionality, including hardware accelerated 3D rendering technology, called Stage 3D.  Dozens of new features in Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 allow developers to deliver a new class of gaming and premium video experiences, as well as sophisticated, data-driven applications with back-end systems integration across devices, including the iPhone and iPad via AIR.  AIR native extensions add support for unique device features and native code libraries, empowering developers to freely choose the right mix of Flash, HTML5 and native code to provide powerful user experiences across PCs and devices.

In addition to hardware graphics acceleration support, Adobe claims Stage 3D will also have faster software rendering features that will provide better performance for games, even on a 10-year-old PC running on Windows XP.  Flash Player 11 will also have full 64-bit web browser support for Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems.

As far as AIR 3 goes, Adobe claims it will let developers create programs that can be installed with seamless one-click programs with Android, iOS, Windows, and Mac operating system.

Adobe AIR 3 provides support for native extensions, as well as captive runtime, meaning the developers can automatically pack AIR 3 with their apps which will simplify the installation process.

The other important features to note are rental and subscription options for content publishers, content protection across all supported platforms, and this includes mobile platforms and HD video quality across platforms.

Adobe is trying to make its new Flash Player more attractive to developers.  This new version comes as Microsoft has announced that the upcoming Internet Explorer 10 web browser would not use plug-in programs, including Flash for the Windows 8 Metro version.  Adobe notes that Flash will work with Windows 8 when Microsoft’s next operating system is released.

Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 is said to allow game publishers to deliver console-quality 2D and 3D games over the internet due to support for full-hardware acceleration.  In addition to delivering high quality games, media companies will be able to deliver protected feature-length, cinema-quality HD video through the internet to mobile platforms as well as internet connected TVs.