Helping to make the SDL cross-platform library more attractive for mobile/Android developers, the latest SDL2 code has an initial OpenSL ES implementation. OpenSL ES is the Khronos Group’s effort as an industry-standard sound library for embedded hardware while offering up 3D positional audio support, optional integration with OpenMAX, audio effects, and other advanced sound capabilities. More details may be found on Phoronix with a diff of the merge here.

Khronos OpenROAD is an animated video featuring all the royalty-free Khronos APIs working together in an open ecosystem. We started with an idea: a simple sketch of a sports car–and then show how Khronos APIs make it a reality. Our technology powers everything from the initial CAD design and simulation using OpenGL and OpenCL, to the in-car entertainment and communications using OpenSL ES, OpenMAX, and OpenVX, to its starring role in a mobile game using WebGL and WebCL.

The image processing, video and computer vision communities in Israel are world class leaders in the field, with large and dynamic presence in both industry and academia. The IMVC conference is a unique opportunity for companies from diverse industrial fields to meet with research groups of academic institutions heading machine vision research in Israel. The conference serve as a venue for academic researchers, algorithm experts and engineers, product managers, and system managers from companies in various segments of the industry (medical, military, security, etc.) to gain exposure, exchange ideas and foster collaboration. Material regarding the newly formed Israel Chapter will be handed at the conference. The Israel Chapter is a great opportunity to meet and share information regarding Khronos APIs: OpenGL, OpenCL, OpenVX, OpenMax, etc.

muvee Device Solutions Group announced the release of the muvee Advanced Multimedia SDK (mAMS) to enable customers, partners and developers to create video applications with video, text, and audio support. mAMS eliminates the big hurdles of developers having to learn the intricacies of multimedia frameworks, by using third party libraries like OpenGL and OpenMax.

VLC 2.1, known as ‘Rincewind’, has been released for OS X and is considered a major upgrade. OpenGL has now been ported to OpenGL ES with new video inputs for iOS using OpenGL ES 2. Improvements to the OpenMAX IL decoders, encoders and renderers has been made along with correct YUV-RGB color matrix in the OpenGL shaders.

CEVA, Inc. has announced a new low-energy software framework for Android based systems. The Android Multimedia Framework (AMF) efficiently reduces the power consumption required for complex multimedia processing using a heterogeneous CPU and DSP system architecture. Using the Khronos Groups OpenMAX IL API, AMF complies with the current Android 4.x versions.

Collabora has announced the release of their GStreamer OpenMax IL wrapper plug-in for the GStreamer 1.x multimedia framework. The new plug-in release by Collabora supports the stable GStreamer 1.x API/ABI with a generic OpenMAX IL implementation as well as special support for the OpenMAX features of the Raspberry Pi. (News via Phoronix)

The Khronos Group just wrapped up another tour in Asia. Slides from the visit and a few photos are available online.

The Khronos Group is hosting another series of DevUs, educational sessions, Member F2F meetings and news conferences aimed at the educational community. The Khronos Pan Pacific Road Show 2012 is devoted to the Pan Pacific region with a focus on education and training, OpenGL and OpenGL ES, OpenCL, WebGL, WebCL OpenVG, OpenSL ES and OpenMAX. Complete details on all the upcoming events can be found on the Khronos Group event page. The next events will be held in Beijing on March 13 2012. Free registration is now open.

The Khronos Group today announced the release of OpenMAX™ IL 1.2 as a provisional specification. OpenMAX IL is a royalty-free, cross-platform C-language API for integration of multimedia components into media frameworks to simplify deployment of audio/video encoders/decoders, camera control, and audio, video and image processing algorithms across diverse platforms. OpenMAX IL 1.2 is a backward compatible upgrade that includes dynamic buffer allocation, improved media graph management, in-band signaling, enhanced audio video synchronization, a wider range of standard components and enhanced camera control capabilities together with many other improvements and clarifications to increase interoperability between media processing components. The specification has been released in provisional form to enable developers and implementers to provide feedback before specification finalization. The OpenMAX IL 1.2 provisional specification is available for immediate download.

The Khronos Group’s growth continues to be significant and demonstrates the huge opportunity we share as members of this highly specialized industry. Throughout 2012, Khronos is hosting a series of media events, educational sessions and F2F meetings for consortium members and prospective clients. The Khronos Pan Pacific Road Show 2012 is devoted to our members and colleagues in the Pan Pacific region with a focus on education and training. Complete details on all the upcoming events can be found on the Khronos Group event page. The first events will be held in Taiwan starting February 13 2012.

Android released an updated version of the Android NDK bringing it to revision 7. “Android NDK r7 includes a number of build system improvements and bug fixes, but most importantly it gives you access to two new sets of APIs”, wrote Xavier Ducrohet on the Android Developers Blog. The two new Khronos Group APIs are: OpenMAX AL 1.0.1 for Low-level streaming multimedia, which provides a direct, efficient path for low-level streaming multimedia; and OpenSL ES used for audio decoding into PCM. Release notes are available on the Android Developers website.

Google’s recently announced Android 4.0 platform, and related Ice Cream Sandwich SDK, include many new media capabilities. One very nice addition is the introduction for low-level streaming multimedia. To support this low-level streaming, the platform introduces a new native API based on the Khronos OpenMAX AL 1.0.1 API. This API is implemented on the same underlying services as the platform’s existing OpenSL ES API, so developers can make use of both APIs together if needed. Tools support for low-level streaming multimedia will be available in an upcoming release of the Android NDK. Learn more about OpenMAX AL on the Khronos Group website.

Qualcomm has licensed SRS Labs’ industry-leading audio APIs, including SRS’ OpenSL ES and OpenAL audio API solutions for mobile devices. “This agreement with Qualcomm is a significant step forward in cementing our worldwide leadership in mobile audio enhancement solutions,” said Bob Lyle, managing director of global business development for SRS Labs, Inc.

Khronos has announced a quick reference card for WebGL 1.0 release spec. This adds to the collection of Reference Cards already available for other Khronos APIs: OpenGL, OpenCL, OpenVG, OpenMAX, OpenSL ES, COLLADA and OpenWF