What Is OpenGL ES?
OpenGL ES is an application programming interface (API) for advanced 3D
graphics targeted at handheld and embedded devices such as cell phones,
personal digital assistants (PDAs), consoles, appliances, vehicles, and avionics.
OpenGL ES is one of a set of APIs created by the Khronos Group. The
Khronos Group, founded in January 2000, is a member-funded industry
consortium that is focused on the creation of open standard and royaltyfree
APIs for handheld and embedded devices.
In the desktop world there are two standard 3D APIs, DirectX and OpenGL.
DirectX is the de facto standard 3D API for any system running the
Microsoft Windows operating system and is used by the majority of 3D
games on that platform. OpenGL is a cross-platform standard 3D API for
desktop systems running Linux, various flavors of UNIX, Mac OS X, and
Microsoft Windows. It is a widely accepted standard 3D API that has seen
significant real-world usage. The API is used by games such as the Doom and
Quake series, user interfaces as in Mac OS X, workstation computer-aided
design (CAD) applications like CATIA, and digital content creation applications
such as Maya and SoftImage|XSI.
