All items in category Industry News
USB-IF Publishes HID Standard for Braille Displays
by audioXpress Staff

USB-IF Publishes HID Standard for Braille Displays

The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), the support organization for the advancement and adoption of USB technology, announced a USB HID (Human Interface Device) standard for braille displays, representing a collaborative step toward greater technological accessibility for people who are blind or have low vision. The announcement of the new standard was the result of a collaboration effort between Apple and Microsoft, and will improve accessibility for blind or low-vision users across different operating systems and hardware.
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EBU and Fraunhofer IIS Conducted Live MPEG-H Audio Production Trial at Eurovision Song Contest 2018
by audioXpress Staff

EBU and Fraunhofer IIS Conducted Live MPEG-H Audio Production Trial at Eurovision Song Contest 2018

The European Broadcasting Union EBU and Fraunhofer IIS have successfully conducted the first trial for live production of immersive and interactive sound using the MPEG-H TV Audio System at the 2018 Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) in Lisbon, Portugal. For the trial, the Fraunhofer sound engineers installed a height dimension to the impressive microphone setup in the Altice Arena, enabling them to produce an immersive and personalized audio mix live. Broadcasters and sound experts present at the venue could experience the enveloping and interactive MPEG-H sound.
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Global Smart Home Market to Hit $155 Billion by 2023
by audioXpress Staff

Global Smart Home Market to Hit $155 Billion by 2023

The global smart home market ended on an upbeat note in 2017 reaching $84 billion, up 16% from $72 billion in 2016 according to a report just released by Strategy Analytics. According to the report, “2018 Global Smart Home Market Forecast”, worldwide consumer spending on smart home devices, systems and services will total nearly $96 billion in 2018 and grow at 10% CAGR over the forecast period (2018 to 2023) to $155 billion. Adoption of smart speakers from Amazon and Google is boosting the market.
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European Union Project ORPHEUS Shows Object-Based Media Innovations
by audioXpress Staff

European Union Project ORPHEUS Shows Object-Based Media Innovations

On 15th May 2018, the EU-funded ORPHEUS consortium presented their results at a workshop in Munich, Germany. The event served to summarize how the ORPHEUS project has created a full set of tools and applications for object-based media innovations, including demonstrations of a future-proof radio service, perfecting the complete workflow for object-based audio and IP-based delivery, and demonstrating object-based broadcasting innovations including foreground/ background control, language selection, immersive sound, and enhanced program services.
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Dirac Research Announces Smartphone Debut of its ‘Dirac Panorama Sound’ Audio Solution
by audioXpress Staff

Dirac Research Announces Smartphone Debut of its ‘Dirac Panorama Sound’ Audio Solution

Dirac Research announced that its Dirac Panorama Sound solution will finally make its smartphone debut in the Smartisan Nut R1 smartphone. Dirac Panorama Sound is a pioneering speaker-optimization solution that produces immersive surround sound audio from embedded speakers positioned only a few inches apart from one another in products such as smartphones and portable speakers. Surprisingly, this brilliant digital sound optimization technology only now is getting to actual products.
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Apple Launches iOS 11.4 with AirPlay 2 to Enable HomePod Stereo Pairs and Multi-Room Audio
by audioXpress Staff

Apple Launches iOS 11.4 with AirPlay 2 to Enable HomePod Stereo Pairs and Multi-Room Audio

Apple has confirmed that its latest mobile operating system iOS 11.4 is now available introducing the much anticipated AirPlay 2 updated technology, which enables Apple's own smart speaker to be configured as stereo pairs and to work in multi-room mode. AirPlay 2 will be also supported by several other audio manufacturers. Apple also confirmed that HomePod will be available in Canada, France and Germany, starting June 18.
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Unique Academic Recording Project Highlights the Effects of Microphone Placement with DPA Microphones
by audioXpress Staff

Unique Academic Recording Project Highlights the Effects of Microphone Placement with DPA Microphones

It is common knowledge among sound engineers that every musical instrument has a specific sound radiation pattern and that its recorded sound depends on where the microphone is placed in relation to that instrument. Investigating this fact has led to a fascinating collaboration between Kazuya Nagae, a sound recording Associate Professor from Soundmedia Composition Course, Nagoya University of the Arts, and Thorsten Weigelt, a Tonmeister and professor from the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK).
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Bragi Joins STMicroelectronics Partner Program with Bragi Intelligent Edge
by audioXpress Staff

Bragi Joins STMicroelectronics Partner Program with Bragi Intelligent Edge

Bragi announced its inclusion in ST Microelectronics Partner Program to create software solutions that address the current needs for modern IoT development, granting shorter development time as well as reducing the time and cost to market. Bragi offers state-of-the-art configurable, scalable, and power-efficient software building blocks of its Intelligent Edge computing platform, combined with products, technologies, and solutions from ST.
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The AirBlade Transducer
by Joao Martins

The AirBlade Transducer

At the High End 2018 show in Munich, I learned that there was this "very exciting and promising" new driver being introduced at the show. When we decided to visit the "Newcomers" exhibits, where new companies pitch their new ideas, inventions and, sometimes, actual products, we met British manufacturer Arya Audio Labs and we were pleased to find a longtime friend of audioXpress and Voice Coil, Arthur Marker, now in charge of this new company introducing AirBlade, a revolutionary loudspeaker driver!
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Gracenote Introduces Recording-Level Music Style Datasets for Better Music Discovery, Curation and Personalization
by audioXpress Staff

Gracenote Introduces Recording-Level Music Style Datasets for Better Music Discovery, Curation and Personalization

Gracenote, now a Nielsen company is launching Sonic Style, a breakthrough music descriptor system which classifies the “style” of musical recordings across massive catalogs for the first time ever. Leveraging audio analysis and state-of-the-art machine learning, Gracenote Sonic Style provides the music industry with a powerful and scalable new dataset at the recording level, enabling a more perfect playlist.
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