The Khronos Group has launched its OpenMAX AL 1.1 specification, a cross-platform C-language API for high-performance multimedia apps on mobile and embedded devices.
Khronos spokesperson Jonathan Hirshon told TG Daily that the updated OpenMAX application layer (AL) allows mobile apps to run on both hardware-accelerated systems as well as software-based media platforms.
“OpenMAX AL provides developers with the ability to create and control player-recorder objects, connecting them to configurable devices/components, such as headphones, loudspeakers, microphones, display windows, cameras, haptics, broadcast radios and LEDs,” he explained.
According to Hirshon, the OpenMAX spec facilitates a wide-range of media-related functionality, including:
- Playback – PCM audio, encoded audio, MIDI ringtones, UI sounds, encoded video/image content and extraction of embedded metadata.
- Recording – Audio, video and image capture.
- Effects and controls – Volume, balance, equalizer, gamma adjustments, brightness and contrast.
- MIDI – SP-MIDI, mobile DLS and mobile XMF.
- Analog Radio – Tuning and support for RDS/RBDS content.
- LED array – Control multiple colored LED arrays.
It should be noted that Khronos also announced its OpenMAX AL Digital TV Extension, which simplifies the deployment of digital TV functionality and enables devs to code DTV-related media apps across a variety of mobile devices.
“The OpenMAX AL Digital TV extension helps standardize digital TV, while making it easily accessible to both app devs and mobile end-users.
“Think of it this way: because the updated spec is transmission technology-agnostic, it allows the same framework and applications to be repurposed across a variety of platforms, devices and markets,” added Hirshon.
