Flash Media Server 3 announced

Adobe promises no more bandwidth or connection limitations. There will be two server editions Adobe Flash Media Streaming Server and Adobe Flash Media Interactive Server. A free developer edition is also available.

 

Flash Media Streaming Server will allow you to stream video, both live and on-demand, while Flash Media Interactive Server basically presents the current feature set of FMS2. Flash Media Interactive Server supports not only streaming but also has scripting capabilities, server side remote objects, and everything you are used to. This means that Flash Media Streaming Server (FMSS) is basically a stripped down version of the Flash Media Interactive Server.

 

According to Kevin Towes, technical product manager in the Dynamic Media Organization of Adobe, one of the major additions to the player is the Digital Rights Management (DRM) that is now available. When you visit Youtube or other sites that stream short videos progressively, the video is saved to your browsers cache. With video streamed from FMS, it's never a file that is downloaded. The Flash Player just "listens" and displays images that are streamed to you in a continuous manner.

 

FMSS will set you back a mere USD $995 while FMIS costs USD $4,500.

 

Here is a comparative chart of the features of Flash Media Server editions.