The Future of Seamless Audio According to Qualcomm

An exclusive interview with Dino Bekis, Qualcomm's Vice President and General Manager, Wearables & Mixed Signal Solutions Business Unit, where he shares fascinating insights into the company's roadmap and future developments, leveraging the best of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi in wireless earbuds and headphones into a seamless, high-quality audio experience. We also learn about Qualcomm's unique vision for its latest generation Snapdragon Sound platforms, and XPAN technology, allowing wireless hi-res audio without bandwidth constraints or compromising battery life.

audioXpress April 2025 is now available and includes a comprehensive Market Update on Wireless Earbuds and Hearables, covering AI, Sensors, how Wi-Fi streaming is possible in headphones, and more. René Christensen explains Expansion Techniques for Acoustical Engineering, Ethan Winer writes about Built-In Guitar Effects, and Vincent Thiernesse shares his incredible single control Low-Frequency Hybrid Crossover. Don't miss also Paul Marchese's Primer on Class-D Amplifiers, and Richard Honeycutt's article on Silvertone guitar amp circuits.

Precisely a month since I was at the Barcelona Fira attending the mammoth of a trade show that is Integrated Systems Europe, here I was back in Barcelona for an even bigger and busier event, the annual Mobile World Congress (MWC) promoted by the GSMA. 109,000 attendees and 2,900 exhibitors. In this first impressions report I discuss Bluetooth, why there was no Auracast, how Qualcomm made a splash with XPAN, and why are mobile operators obsessed with AI and Robots.

NXP Semiconductors announced its latest family of 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) Dual Band + Bluetooth/BLE-Audio devices, designed to drive a new phase of connectivity innovation for all sorts of advanced audio, gaming and connected devices. Enabling the world’s first Wi-Fi 6 enabled gaming console (the new PlayStation 5), NXP’s optimized IW62X family of products will provide increased capacity, efficiency and performance for next-generation connectivity solutions including wireless speakers and all sorts of smart devices.

Artificial intelligence (AI), voice-recognition technology and fast connectivity – critical ingredients for smart speakers, smart home technologies and smartphones – will help spur overall U.S. consumer technology industry revenue to $377 billion in retail revenues in 2018, a six percent increase, according to the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). The mid-year update of CTA’s flagship report, U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecasts, also shows whole home Wi-Fi solutions and wireless earbuds will each cross the $1 billion wholesale revenue milestone for the first time this year.