Qualcomm Inc., one of the world leaders in 3G and next-generation mobile technologies, released its augmented reality (AR) software development kit (SDK) for Apple’s iOS platform. The new AR SDK will help Apple developers to create high-performance, interactive 3D AR experiences. The AR release is in the same line as their Android version, released back in April.

Qualcomm also unveiled a new app called ‘Mavs AR’ in collaboration with the Dallas Mavericks using iOS AR technology.  Qualcomm’s augmented reality mobile applications run on most of the high end Android smartphones largely in gaming or social applications. Augmented reality technology offers a 3D-like imaging experience in a digital view. Qualcomm’s AR vision-based augmented reality platform uses complex computer vision algorithms to offer virtual content on top of a view of the real world as seen through a camera.

“The expansion of Qualcomm’s AR Platform from Android to iOS enables developers to use Apple’s XCode and Unity 3 to build high-performance, interactive 3D AR experiences,” Qualcomm said on Thursday.

Qualcomm’s SDK delivers developers with an advanced feature set, allowing for augmentation of everyday images on printed media, as well as simple 3D objects, such as boxes used for product packaging. It also supports the ability for users to interact with AR applications by simply touching real world surfaces.

Qualcomm plans to deliver more relevant technology and services to the market with new products. This week it has announced that it has acquired certain assets from GestureTek, a developer of gesture recognition technology for smartphones. It has also invested in a search real time answers service, ChaCha, and introduced its current and next-generation Snapdragon processors.

Qualcomm is not the only player investing on AR platforms. Leading augmented Reality (AR) platform Layar receives $14 million in funding from Intel Capital, Sunstone Capital and Prime Ventures.

AR has been widely developed for top Android phones and the iPhone. Now that the SDK is available for Apple developers, we expect more games and rich 3D content applications to start pouring to Apple marketplace.