Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More

X

Bluetooth is set for a massive upgrade with the two-decade-old technology soon to support high-quality audio at low data rates for better power consumption and a whole new world of applications.

With an estimated billion Bluetooth devices in the wild, you can be forgiven for thinking the technology has remained the same since its inception.

However, since its release the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) has continued to refine the platform over the years, with the next update called Bluetooth LE.

First announced at CES 2020, the new format will support both Bluetooth Classic and Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) which will be used ‘to improve [Bluetooth] performance as well as enable the creation of new products and use cases’.

LE Audio incorporates the use of a new high-quality, low-power audio codec, the Low Complexity Communications Codec (LC3).

Luckily for us, the majority of operating systems across computers and mobiles already natively support low energy codecs.

LC3 is capable of delivering high-quality audio signals even at low data rates, which SIG believes will give developers ‘tremendous flexibility… allowing them to make better design tradeoffs between key product attributes such as audio quality and power consumption’.

According to Head of Audio for Communications at Fraunhofer IIS Manfred Lutzky, ‘developers will be able to leverage these power savings to create products that can provide longer battery life or, in cases where current battery life is enough, reduce the form factor by using a smaller battery’ which may be extremely useful for the likes of Tile and their tracking devices.

The most important application for the new format is in hearing aid technology, with the low-power platform allowing for hearing aids to be transformed into Bluetooth audio devices capable of wireless calling.

‘Within a few years most new phones and TVs will be equally accessible to users with hearing loss’, claims Stefan Zimmer, Secretary-General of the European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association.

Another key feature is the ability to broadcast or share audio with other devices around you or receive location-based shared audio like alerts from airports.

Multi-stream audio is also set to be supported by the new format, allowing for the ‘transmission of multiple, independent, synchronised audio streams between an audio source device,’ which Nick Hunn, Chair of the Bluetooth SIG Hearing Aid Working, believes can provide ‘a better stereo imaging experience’.bluetooth le audio timeline Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More

728x90 yoga pro 7i Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
iP16 4SQRmedia 970 x 90 px 03 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
Belkin Screen Protection 728 x 90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
ARLO MG3 2024 Banner 728x90px Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
728X90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
728x90 Iconic Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
728x90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
Litheaudio 728x90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
BlueAnt 4SQM PumpAirUltra 728x90px Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
728x90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
PAN2664 ChannelNews Banner CM3 728x90px V1 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
Flick of a switch 728x90 1 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
FA 979 HN MDF SG14 14gen 728x90 1 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
Leaderboard 728x90 1 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
QUEEN 728x90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
Haier 728x90 1 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
Martin Logan 728 x 90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
Emberton III BLACK 728x90 without CTA@2x Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
hitachi banner 728x90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
Whatmough 728x90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
05 Channel New Banner T30S COMBO 728x90 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
4SquareMedia 728x90 scaled Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
240215 SAV R Volution CNewsFeb Leaderboard 1 Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More
Middleton 728x90px Product Bluetooth Upgrade Incoming For Audio Devices, Hearing Aids & More

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE