The First Smart Speaker from Apple: A Strong Design and How It Is Perceived

For this edition of The Audio Voice, I intended to focus a bit more on the latest developments in the fascinating world of sensors and how it impacts product development and design in all applications areas, particularly in consumer electronics, automotive, and health applications. After writing previously about Apple - the sensors on the Apple Watch and the surprising firmware updates for the AirPod Pro earbuds - I really didn't want to go back to Apple. But as always, Apple has a way of surprising us exactly when we least expected, and the company made another important audio announcement.

NXP Semiconductors announced that the first multi-device vehicle wireless charging solution driven by a single MWCT controller is now available in production vehicles. The solution charges two mobile devices simultaneously at up to 2x15 Watts using a single MWCT controller and supports all Qi wireless charging enabled phones including latest iPhone models, and products from Samsung, Huawei and others. Optional NFC is available for convenience features such as BLE/Wi-Fi pairing, smart car access with NFC, in-car purchases and NFC card damage protection.

To better support and strengthen the adoption of Ultra Wideband (UWB) technology, the two existing supporting organizations, UWB Alliance and the FiRa Consortium have established a joint liaison agreement to align their ideas and get their act together. This liaison will provide the two organizations with guiding principles to ultimately achieve the common goal of creating a UWB-enabled ecosystem and supporting use of UWB technology, which could be an important enabler in critical health and safety, personal networks or smart home applications.