One thing I was eagerly expecting to hear at WWDC 09 was something indicating HD and better graphics on the iTouch platform (may be those multicore processors that are being rumored since long). While better processor and more RAM were clear, it seems the Graphics part was missed by me.
So here we go, engadget reports that iPhone 3GS supports OpenGL ES 2.0 which is much more advanced than the OpenGL ES 1.1 supported by iPhone 3G. This would allow developers to make better games for the iPhone 3GS.
The PowerVR MBX found in iPhone 3G doesn’t support OPEN GL 2.0 and at the same time apps written for OPENGL 2.0 are not backward compatible with OPENGL 1.1. However, the PowerVR SGX chip used in iPhone 3GS has lower power consumption and adds lesser load on memory & CPU and supports OPENGL 1.1 / 2.0.
This would mean that we would now see games / apps specially written for iPhone 3GS, instead of the entire iPhone / iPod Touch lineup. So far apps using GPS were the only ones that were exclusive to a particular iPhone model (i.e. the iPhone 3G); apart from some phone related apps that didn’t support the iPod Touch.
I would expect the iPod Touch 3rg Gen to be revealed before year end, and support OPENGL 2.0 (and possible HD support considering ZUNE HD is coming).