SAR had an opinion piece published in EE Times this week, full details here. The article discusses the future of headphones, considering what is next on the horizon, what we and others in the industry are calling Headphone 3.0. Essentially, we are expected next gen headphones to evolve evermore into ear-worn computers rather than audio […]
Hear This: ‘Ear-Worn Computing’ Around the Corner Read More »
Lofelt announced on its website “Lofelt is now embarking on a new adventure, and we will sunset our products on July 7th, 2022”, this was a bit cryptic and left us wondering what is happening here. WSJ announced that Meta has acquired Lofelt, for an undisclosed sum. Now, did Meta purchase Lofelt after it had […]
Meta acquires Lofelt Read More »
SAR recently published its update on the MEMS Speaker market, one of the key changes in this edition is that the previous forecast expected the MEMS speaker market to take off in 2021 but this has been delayed by approximately 1 year. Although there has been a delay in the market ramp, MEMS speaker vendors […]
SAR publishes its updated MEMS Speaker study Read More »
Congrats to Eric Vezzoli and his team on the announcement that gaming giant Razer will acquire haptics platform vendor Interhaptics. Razer has been investing in the use of haptics to enhance the gaming experience for a number of years, with products such as the Razer Nari Ultimate – a haptics enabled gaming headset and Razer […]
Razer acquires Interhaptics to drive Haptics ecosystem Read More »
As discussed in SAR’s study on MEMS speakers (which is currently being updated MEMS Speaker Update 2022), automotive is one of the largest markets for speakers, with almost ½ billion speakers used per year. SAR is expecting MEMS speakers to start being used in automotive applications from 2023, in small volumes as OEMs trial their […]
USound MEMS speakers enable new audio in-vehicle experiences Read More »
The Bluetooth SIG launched Auracast™ this week. This is the brand name for the broadcast audio ability enabled by LE Audio. It has been eagerly waited for by the industry and is very interesting new way to use Bluetooth. Regarding branding, this reminds me of previous attempts by technology organisations to stir up consumer […]
Bluetooth SIG launches Auracast Read More »
This is an interesting example of how 3rd party app developers can build new solutions, working in collaboration with TWS device vendors. In this case app developer Endel (Germany) appears to be using the Sony Linkbuds microphones to understand context, e.g. is a person situated in an office, in a park, etc., from this it […]
Endel collaborates with Sony to bring audio wellness to Sony’s LinkBuds series Read More »
One of SAR’s clients alerted us to this piece of news. The Xiaomi Gamepad Elite Edition is interesting for many reasons, let’s consider the components first: Nordic Semiconductor Bluetooth 5.0 + proprietary RF chip Dual Minebea linear motors for haptics feedback (supporting feedback from Windows and Steam games) TDK InvenSense 6-axis gyroscope This is demonstrating […]
Xiaomi Gamepad Elite Edition Read More »
An amazing achievement by Broadcom, which clearly demonstrates the appetite for improved Wi-Fi connections. The inclusion of the 6GHz band (as well as other improvements) has led to “six times faster upload speeds, four times faster download speeds, four times better coverage and seven times better battery life than the previous Wi-Fi standard”, according to […]
Broadcom ships one billion Wi-Fi 6 and 6E chips Read More »
This press release caught my eye as it demonstrates a few interesting trends. Firstly, this is a radically different type of component, Bosch has transitioned from a piezo based to a capacitive MEMS based sensor, which has enabled it to reduce power drain and increase accuracy significantly. It seems most likely that this component will […]