Sonion Combines Voice Pick Up Bone Sensor With Qualcomm Bluetooth SoC to Improve Speech Intelligibility

Sonion, the manufacturer of components and solutions for hearing aids and in-ear headphones, announced that it is now a member of the Qualcomm Extension Program and will offer the Sonion Voice Pick Up Bone Sensor on the Qualcomm Ultra-Low Power QCC5100 Bluetooth SoC series in Q1 2020. The combination will allow other audio manufacturers to implement reliable voice quality and voice recognition applications that are not hindered by surrounding noise.

Knowles Corporation announced that it has developed with Baidu and Bestechnic (BES) a new hands-free reference design for headphones, headsets and true wireless earbuds that works with smart devices powered by DuerOS, Baidu’s conversational AI system. The Knowles IA610 SmartMic supports the industry’s lowest-power, always-on voice wake capability to enable Baidu voice service on-the-go for ear worn consumer products.

Alango Technologies is getting ready to launch its new Wear & Hear line of assistive hearing products, starting with BeHear Now, an advanced Bluetooth stereo headset and hearing enhancer, featuring advanced audio processing with personal adjustments. Unique technologies include the company's ListenThrough enhancement of ambient sounds, music and phone calls, and EasyListen, which slows down incoming speech in real time.

CEVA, a leading licensor of signal processing platforms for smart, connected devices, introduced ClearVox, a new software suite of advanced voice input processing algorithms aimed at enhancing speech intelligibility and voice clarity for voice-enabled devices. ClearVox is licensed exclusively for the CEVA-TeakLite-4 and CEVA-X2 audio/voice DSPs, and extends the company’s voice portfolio with multi-mic beamforming, speaker direction of arrival, noise suppression and echo cancellation algorithms.

German company Bragi anticipated the announcement of Apple’s headphone-jack free iPhone 7 with an announcement of its own. While some audio companies are targeting Lightning connectivity and the benefits of direct digital connection, Bragi decided to make the best use of its technology already developed for The Dash true wireless earbuds to create a new simpler model - The Headphone - focusing on compatibility with any Bluetooth device… including the iPhone.

As we said previously, the race is on for the winner of the full-wireless earbuds challenge. Doppler Labs is the latest contender with their Here One hearables, promising “The Future of In-Ear Computing”. The difference is this is not your typical crowdfunding project, but a company working for the past three years to perfect the Here One concept, exploring the full potential of personalized earbuds.