The Khronos Group publicly releases the OpenVG 1.1 Lite Provisional Specification for advanced 2D vector and raster graphics, with conformance tests placed into open source under the Apache 2.0 license. OpenVG 1.1 Lite enables this high-quality 2D vector graphics API to be fully accelerated by any OpenGL ES 2.0-compatible GPU for the first time, significantly increasing the range of devices on which it can be deployed. The Provisional Specification is released in markdown format on GitHub to enable the developer community to provide input and feedback before the specification and conformance tests are finalized.

Mazatech released version 4.5 of AmanithVG SDK on GitHub (http://github.com/Mazatech/amanithvg-sdk), a C/C++ library that implements OpenVG 1.1 specifications from Khronos Group. AmanithVG SDK is features-unlimited and it is free for evaluation purposes. It supports desktop, mobile and embedded platforms: Windows (x86, x86_64), Mac OSX (ub), Linux (arm, arm-v6hf, arm-v7a, aarch64, mipsel, mips64el, pppc64el, x86, x86_64), Android (arm, arm-v7a, arm64-v8a, mips, mips64, x86, x86_64), iOS (ub), QNX (armv7-le, x86). The package also includes a set of ten tutorials covering different OpenVG features: gradients paint types, patterns, stroking, alpha blending, images, masking and text, completed with source code and detailed description on the AmanithVG website. The building system is based on CMake, so all the tutorials support Visual Studio, XCode, Android Studio as well as plain Makefile.

In Qt 5.9 is now possible to render Qt Quick applications with OpenVG when using hardware that supports it. This is made possible by a new scene graph adaptation that uses EGL and OpenVG to render Qt Quick scenes.

GLUS for OpenGL and OpenVG documentation can now be found on Github. The cross platform and cross Graphic Library UtilitieS (GLUS) is an open-source C library, which provides a hardware and operating system abstraction plus many functions usually needed for graphics programming using OpenGL, OpenGL ES or OpenVG.

Axell will start production of the AG903, the latest product in the “AG9” series graphics LSI for embedded systems. As with existing products, it has strengths not only in functionality and performance, but also in the supply and support. It is the LSI for industrial devices used in the factory automation, measurement, and medical equipments, among others. The AG903 is in conformance with OpenVG 1.1 and uses the ARM Cortex-A5 for it’s built in CPU.

The second Release Candidate (RC) milestone of the upcoming Mesa 3D 13.0.0 Graphics Library has been announced. Changes implemented in Mesa 13.0.0 RC2 include the move of the BlendBarrier and PrimitiveBoundingBox definitions into the ES3.2 category for GLAPI, export of all GLES (OpenGL ES) 3.2 functions in the libGLESv2.so library, and the set of the VISIBILITY_CFLAGS argument for shared GLAPI to the automake file the MAPI generic OpenVG dispatcher.

Digital Media Professionals Inc announced that it has licensed the DMP GPU core, SMAPH-F, to Renesas Electronics Corporation, for its SoCs (system-on-chips) for office appliances. The DMP SMAPH-F is 2D Vector graphics IP core which is differentiated by its robust conformance to Khronos Group standards OpenVG and by its remarkably small silicon foot print which enables DMP licensees to maximize graphics performance delivered per square millimeter of silicon area and per mill watt of system power consumption.

GLUS 2.0 has been added to the official OpenGL SDK. GLUS is an open-source C library, which provides a hardware and operating system abstraction plus many functions usually needed for graphics programming using OpenGL, OpenGL ES or OpenVG. Many open source graphics examples are also included.

Wind River announced that it has reinvented the real-time operating system (RTOS) to address the new market opportunities created by the Internet of Things. For customers whose products demand advanced graphics, VxWorks 7 delivers a graphics-ready platform that features a new highly efficient OpenVG-based stack, hardware-assisted graphics drivers, and the Tilcon graphics designer tool. Learn more about VxWorks 7.

Digital Media Professionals Inc announced that Olympus has selected DMP 2D/3D hybrid graphics IP core “SMAPH-H” for their OLYMPUS OM-D E-M1, the flagship model of a mirrorless system, integrating DSLR. SMAPH-H is a hybrid graphics IP core optimized for high-performance, high-quality user interfaces and mobile applications, supporting OpenVG 1.1 and OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0 APIs.

Intel has posted an in-depth article on how to get started with OpenGL ES development for the Android platform. The article details how to work around many of the special challenges of using OpenGL ES on Android not covered in existing literature, including the lack of support for compressed and alpha textures and the trade-offs associated with using OpenGL ES with the Android SDK verses the NDK. It also covers which are the best sample apps to use for new development and how to optimize the Android tools for OpenGL ES development and maximum emulation performance. This is a great place to start regardless of what processor or GPU you are using.

EETImes talks about Freescale’s i.MX6 Series of application processors which offer a scalable line of hardened processors targeting automotive instrument display systems. Each i.MX6 product is optimized around CPU, OpenCL / OpenGL / OpenVG graphics, and HD video processing for in-vehicle infotainment and instrument cluster systems. The technologies and tools provided by Freescale, Vivante and Rightware will help car manufacturers and the whole automotive ecosystem move up to a new level of performance and sophistication with next-generation human-machine interfaces using OpenCL / OpenGL ES, and OpenVG for automotive apps in instrument displays. (Story via

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Intel introduced at CES the world’s first smartphone based on the company’s Atom Z2460 platform formerly code-named Medfield. The new Lenovo K800 handset will be available in Q2 2012 in China and will be the first smartphone ever to use an x86 microprocessor. Intel Medfield is powered by Atom architecture 1.60GHz x86 core with Hyper-Threading technology, enhanced Intel Deeper Sleep, C6E estate, S0i1/S0i3 power reduction features and 512KB of cache. The SoC also includes Intel GMA graphics core with OpenGL ES 2.0 and OpenVG 1.1 with hardware accelerated high-definition 1080p video playback, 32-bit LPDDR2 memory controller and Intel’s new image signal processor.

ARM announced the ARM Mali-T658 GPU, the latest member of the Midgard architecture-based GPU family targeting high performance devices, such as superphones, tablets and smart-TVs. The ARM Mali-T658 GPU supports a wide range of graphics and compute APIs, including OpenGL ES, OpenVG, OpenCL, Google Renderscript, Microsoft DirectX11 and Microsoft DirectCompute.