Good news! Flash video player (FLVPlayback component) will now play mp4 files (external video files). This is good news because you will now save time by not having to convert videos to the flv format. With mp4 we can now play H.264 HD-quality videos.

Known Issues: The video will have to be fully loaded before it starts playing. Fortunity there is a way to fix the mp4 to start playing sooner. You will have to use a tool called qt-faststart which patches the MP4 file and shefts the headers from the end of the file to the beginning. The file now will starts playback immediately, while the rest of the files is downloaded in the background.

First check if you have flash player version 9.0.115 or higher: http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_15507

You can grag the new Adobe Flash CS3 Professional Upgrade at Amazon for about $190 I think.