A few days ago at SIGGRAPH 12 conference, Pixar presented their latest hot technology called Open Subdiv. This is what Pixar uses in all their videos enjoying extreme flexibility that they can achieve with any kind of mesh topology through Subdivision Surfaces. This method is very efficient to model smooth shapes, such as a round face for a human character. For this task subdivision surfaces ensure that you always get an exactly rounded shape without any sharp or polygonal edges.

http://www.unixmen.com/pixar-goes-open-source/

Boy, that has to be a slap in the face to Apple.