Sony Electronics Unveils Off-Ear Earphones Designed for Runners and Athletes

Sony had a very strange presence at CES 2023 with almost no product announcements and an unusual booth with no audio products at all. Now, Sony Electronics announces a new bold earphone design that shows that the Japanese company is keeping busy and not afraid to experiment new concepts. The new WI-OE610 Float Run is a new attempt from Sony to perfect off-ear headphones, aimed to help runners with a comfortable design for a stress-free listening experience.

Sony has signed an agreement with Niantic, the gaming company that developed the massively popular online game Pokemon GO, creating a global phenomenon (and a business). The collaboration targets the Niantic's development of augmented reality (AR) mobile games expanded with AR for headphones, such as the just announced new Sony LinkBuds. For users to be able to add audio augmented reality, they need personal audio solutions that deliver spatial audio in sync with the game on-screen, while maintaining environment awareness for safety.

CEVA announced Bluebud-HD, a pre-configured software package for its Bluebud wireless audio platform that includes all the audio, voice and context-aware software required in premium TWS earbuds, gaming headsets, hearables, and other smart audio products. The company also updated its SenslinQ software framework and DSP tool kit for Bluebud that streamlines software migration from other processor architectures to the CEVA-BX1 DSP and virtualizes DSP programming for application developers.

Context-aware devices, such as the embedded smartphone keyboards, have been around for some time, though in a very limited form. By learning regularly used names, locations and phrases, they seem to know your next move, that is, predictive text. Similarly, but at a higher level, the next generation of smart audio devices will combine user-specific data, such as location, preferences and other device sensor data, including audio, to better serve the user.

IFA 2020, in Berlin, Germany, was "the first major global fair for consumer and home electronics" to physically take place since the pandemic. This limited push to promote a trade show again, lead some major consumer electronics companies and brands to converge their announcements in the week from September 1-5, with showcases streamed to the world live from the Berlin exhibition grounds. Some announcements were relevant to the audio industry and included the Qualcomm press conference, which used the opportunity to launch its latest Adaptive ANC platform, an important step towards smart true wireless earbuds.

Sony Electronics announced the WF-SP800N sport headphones, its newest truly wireless noise canceling model. Designed for an active lifestyle, the WF-SP800N allows users to run, workout at the gym, and enjoy improved music experiences with a secure fit, IP55 rating for water and dust resistance, and long battery life. Based on the same Bluetooth chip from the successful WF-1000XM3, the new WF-SP800N model adds interesting audio processing and personalization feature, with support for 360 Reality Audio.

At CES 2020 CEVA unveiled SenslinQ, its first integrated hardware IP and software platform that aggregates sensor fusion, sound and connectivity technologies to enable contextually aware connected devices. The CEVA SenslinQ integrated hardware IP and software platform collects, processes and links data from multiple sensors to enable intelligent devices to understand their surroundings - a key development for augmented hearing using wireless headphones and earbuds.

CEVA announced the acquisition of the Hillcrest Laboratories, Inc. (Hillcrest Labs) business from InterDigital. Hillcrest Labs is a leading global supplier of software and components for sensor processing in consumer and IoT devices, and the acquisition extends CEVA’s connected technology portfolio with highly complementary sensor processing technologies that have powered more than 100 million devices.