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Foundations for future applications

  • AV Kit and AV Foundation
    • Apple is starting to move away from the Quicktime standard for audiovisual media and is migrating towards a combination of AV Kit and AV Foundation for both OS X and iOS. AV Kit provides developers an easy access to modern media technology.
  • Map Kit
    • Map Kit allows developers to embed the functionality and usage of Apple maps on a Macintosh computer running OS X Mavericks. This was previously only available to devices running iOS 6 and later. The ability to use Maps on the desktop could be a great teaching tool in educational institutions, could be used to explore a new city, and more.
  • Sprite Kit
    • OS X has not been known for its gaming when compared to Microsoft Windows and Apple's iOS. Sprite Kit intends to bridge the gap between developing 2D games for iOS and OS X. This framework allows for fast detailed graphics, visual effects, animation, and physics. Developers can shift the focus from game engines to the games themselves.
  • OpenGL
    • OpenGL is the foundation for hardware-accelerated 3D graphics in OS X. It uses the GPU, rather than just the CPU, to provide more power to Core Animation, Core Image, and Quartz Extreme. OS X Mavericks is the first OS X version that supports the OpenGL 4.1 Core Profile. An OpenGL Core Profile allows developers to fully take advantage of the power available in the latest GPUs.
  • OpenCL
    • The Open Computing Language (OpenCL) is similar to OpenGL in that it allows developers to harness the power of modern GPUs to perform tasks. The main difference is that OpenCL is used for general purpose computing rather than just 3D graphics. Tasks that can be accomplished faster by the use of more simultaneous threads, such as image manipulation
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