The Khronos Group is developing and deploying OpenML and OpenGL ES: royalty-free, open standard APIs that will enable authoring and playback of dynamic media on a wide variety of platforms and devices. The current members would like to extend an invitation to any company to join Khronos to further develop and encourage implementations.

With rapid changes in media technology and market demands, common specifications are essential to create interoperability between platforms, hardware devices and software applications. Answering the call for these integrated specifications, the Khronos Group has instigated two development tracks:

• OpenML — OpenML is a software environment that is complementary to the peer OpenGL API and enables digital content authoring application developers to easily integrate video, audio and graphics capabilities into their application suites, and also makes these applications portable over multiple operating systems, CPU architectures and add-in hardware devices. The OpenML 1.0 specification was ratified and made publicly available in 2001 and has provided a significant step forward in the standardization of media manipulation in the content creation industry. Commercial implementations of OpenML 1.0 are currently being shipped on IRIX, and further implementations are being developed on Linux, Microsoft Windows, and the Solaris Operating Environment, with shipments starting later this year.
• OpenGL ES — Open GL ES [ES = 'embedded subset'] will be created by using standardized subsets of OpenGL that will allow the creation of small-footprint 2D and 3D APIs to bring dynamic media capabilities to a wide variety of mobile and embedded devices. The Khronos Group is focused on producing API profiles to meet the requirements of a range of market segments, including the wireless industry, safety-critical automotive and avionics displays, handheld and line-powered appliances and rich-media devices such as advanced digital TVs, set top boxes and game consoles. Through the Khronos Group -- this specification will be made available, royalty free, to the embedded industry. All OpenGL work in the Khronos Group is being undertaken with the support of the OpenGL ARB, the governing body for the OpenGL specification.

There are four levels at which an individual or company can participate in OpenML and the OpenGL ES embedded subset development and usage. The Khronos Group website offers a Summary of Membership Rights and Benefits.

 
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