Open 3D-Graphics Spec For Devices Nears Release

An anonymous reader writes "LinuxDevices.com reports that version 1.0 of the Khronos Group's OpenGL ES (embedded subset) graphics API spec for embedded devices is now ready for final review and ratification by Khronos Group members, a process which should lead to its public release in July 2003. OpenGL ES is described as a light-weight, royalty-free embedded graphics standard that provides 3D-capable graphics API profiles for a broad range of embedded systems and devices, including handheld wireless devices, automotive and avionics displays, and multimedia consumer devices such as advanced digital TVs, set-top boxes, and game consoles."

Comments

The only one to win here

[ObviousGuy]

The only company on the Primary Contributor list that has anything to gain from this is ATI whose chips are nowhere to be found in the embedded space.

The other companies involved look like they just want to have a piece of the pie in case this takes off. Considering that you can put WinCE on these devices for a very nominal licensing fee and have DirectX support out of the box, many device makers will have already chosen against OpenGL. Likewise, Java has a good enough graphics library for phone-like devices.

This is probably great for truly embedded systems like flight computers, but for general purpose devices like telephones, automotive computers (Navigation systems, etc), or PDAs there just doesn't seem to be a real market for OpenGL.