Dear friends, have you upgraded to iOS 14 recently? If you have AirPods, upgrading to iOS 14 will also get extra benefits-the firmware of AirPods will be upgraded accordingly, and there will be an additional option called “Spatial Audio”!
AirPods this “spatial audio” effect is very magical. With the help of AirPods sensors and specific algorithms, it uses two small earplugs to simulate the effect of multi-channel surround sound, and even allows people to have the auditory experience of IMAX movies! Thanks to the sophisticated algorithm, AirPods spatial audio allows you to feel the source of the sound, bringing you a feeling similar to that of a speaker. This experience of getting rid of the head effect makes it hard to believe that it is realized by small earplugs.
There is no doubt that AirPods is currently the best Bluetooth headset with the best comprehensive experience, and spatial audio has once again set it apart from competing products. But progress is endless. In the future, can AirPods be even more against the sky? Today is the starting point once to talk about some new technologies in the future of Bluetooth audio.
Wouldn’t you miss the broadcast even if you listen to songs?
AirPods combined with iOS 14, one of the highlights is the seamless switching of audio sources, the experience is very good. To listen to songs with AirPods, you can manually switch the sound source. For example, when listening to songs with iPhone, click the video playback button on the iPad, and the AirPods sound will automatically switch to the iPad end, which is very convenient.
But with the iteration of Bluetooth audio technology, this process may become more intelligent. At the beginning of this year, the Bluetooth Technology Alliance announced the latest Bluetooth audio specification LE Audio, one of the major improvements lies in Bluetooth audio broadcasting. This technology is specifically like this. One audio source can be connected to multiple Bluetooth audio devices at the same time . For example, at the airport, everyone can listen to the airport’s radio through Bluetooth headsets, so that people will not miss the key by listening to music with Bluetooth headsets. information.
Through LE Audio, Bluetooth headsets can listen to broadcasts in specific places
The LE Audio broadcast mechanism can be based on location, which means that when a Bluetooth headset roams into the audio broadcast area, it can automatically switch to the corresponding broadcast source. In other words, if you bring your Bluetooth headset and enter a certain place, you can switch to the Bluetooth broadcast unique to this place and listen to the corresponding information.
AirPods currently have similar features, but they are not perfect. In iOS 13, Apple brought audio sharing to AirPods, which allows an iOS device to broadcast to multiple AirPods at the same time, but this sharing is only based on personal, not location. If the future AirPods follow LE Audio’s broadcast audio characteristics, there will undoubtedly be more application scenarios.
Fully automatic simultaneous interpretation?
In iOS 14, a brand new translation app has been brought. This app can be translated through a neural network and can get relatively high-quality translation results without networking. With the development of AI chips, the translation effect will inevitably be further improved. Combined with the new Bluetooth technology, it is not impossible for AirPods to become simultaneous interpretation headsets in the future.
In the new LE Audio specification, due to the introduction of a new multi-stream audio support, Bluetooth headsets can transmit different voice streams more smoothly . Combined with the audio broadcast mentioned above, this can bring practical application scenarios such as simultaneous interpretation.
LE Audio supports multiple audio streams and can be used in scenes such as simultaneous interpretation
For example, under the blessing of LE Audio, multiple Bluetooth headsets can be connected to one device at the same time. We can specify different languages for different Bluetooth headsets, and the device will automatically translate different languages, so that everyone wearing a Bluetooth headset can get the translation results they want at the same time. This use is very promising in scenarios such as transnational conference calls.
iOS14 is based on neural network translation, which can cooperate with future AirPods to achieve simultaneous interpretation
At present, Apple has developed instant translation based on local AI operations for iOS devices, and AirPods also support multi-audio streaming. In the future, if AirPods introduce more LE Audio technology, perhaps we can use a small iPhone to enjoy the unattainable simultaneous interpretation. Of course, the quality of translation depends very much on the results of AI calculations, but as the neural network passes through machine learning over and over again, the results will become more and more accurate, and the future can be expected.
More battery life?
Although the battery life of AirPods is not bad, it is not an exaggeration to say that the battery life of AirPods is outstanding if measured on the basis of the same size and battery capacity. However, this still cannot meet the battery life needs of everyone. For friends who need to wear headphones to work all day, 5 or 6 hours of battery life is not enough.
How to further improve battery life? This may need to be modified starting from the Bluetooth audio transmission protocol. Although Bluetooth has entered the low-power Bluetooth BLE era, the current Bluetooth audio transmission is still carried out through the traditional audio (Classic Audio) on the traditional Bluetooth (BR/EDR), and the power consumption is not low. And LE Audio, like its name, can run in Bluetooth Low Energy BLE mode , which will inevitably increase battery life.
LE Audio is based on low energy Bluetooth BLE, which saves more power
In the future, whether it is AirPods or other Bluetooth headsets, LE Audio can reduce power consumption and obtain longer battery life. As for the endurance of AirPods in the future, we will wait and see.
to sum up
Obviously, the aforementioned LE Audio technologies are not only applicable to AirPods, but also to other Bluetooth headsets. However, the application of LE Audio also requires hardware support. This article only uses some technical features of LE Audio to make some application prospects for Bluetooth headsets represented by AirPods.
Advanced Bluetooth audio technology can undoubtedly bring a better experience and broader application prospects. With the use of new technologies such as LE Audio, the advantages of Bluetooth headsets over traditional wired headsets will continue to increase. After all, wired headsets usually only transmit analog signals, and cannot extend their functions through new protocols like Bluetooth headsets, and there is no Bluetooth headset. flexible. Undeniably, wired headphones still have advantages in reliability and sound quality, but in the future, as wireless headphones become more and more versatile, perhaps wired headphones will become a niche plaything.
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