Tag: Bluetooth

Article

Lepai’s tiny powerhouse amplifier won’t break the bank | The Audiophiliac – CNET News

My Comments

Previously, I commented on the Lepai LP-2020A+ midget stereo amplifier which was a utility stereo amplifier that could be connected between a computer or other stereo equipment and a pair of low-powered small bookshelf speakers.

Now Lepai have also released another of these cost-effective midget amps, this time offering a lot more power in its small enclosure as well as being able to work as part of a Bluetooth A2DP audio-playback link. Here, you could have your smartphone, tablet or laptop play through those speakers but move around more freely due to the wireless link. The article mentioned that the Bluetooth implementation wasn’t all that good with the sound but if both the amplifier and the mobile device used the aptX high-quality audio codec, you may have some improvement.

In some ways, the Lepai amplifiers do  pick up from where the low-tier cost-effective small amplifiers that Radio Shack (Tandy) sold through the 1980s – the Realistic SA-102, SA-150 or STA-7. This is where these amplifiers filled in the gap as “utility” or “general-purpose” amplifiers that stood between a turntable, tuner or tape deck in their day or, nowadays, a computer with a sound card, and a pair of small low-cost speakers but those of us who used these amplifiers didn’t expect them to yield high-performance sound.

But the Lepai amplifiers would implement techniques like Class-D power amplification or highly-powerful high-quality “power-amplifier-on-a-chip” technology that improves on what was available through the early 80s to drive the Tandy “midgets”. I also suspect that most of this technology is based on the way the amplifiers used in the “four-wheeled ghetto-blasters” that young men see themselves driving and “ruling the streets in” are designed.

Who knows what Lepai may offer us with utility amplifiers that suit the secondary space like a college dorm room, a den or a small office space.

Article – From the horse’s mouth

Sony

Stereo Bluetooth Headset SBH20 | Wireless Stereo Headset – Sony Smartphones (Global UK English)

My Comments

Sony has raised the stakes with the SBH20 Bluetooth headset audio adaptor in many ways. Firstly, unlike other devices of this class which typically come in any colour you like as long as it is black or perhaps white, you can have a choice of different colours to complement your mood.

The Bluetooth adaptor also exploits the NFC “touch-and-go” standard so you can touch your Android phone to this adaptor to pair up with or immediately connect to it. How quickly amazing and foolproof this setup is.

It also supports the HD Voice standard which would complement good-quality headphones and the HD Voice codecs for mobile and VoIP telephony making your caller come through as clearly as an announcer on your favourite FM radio station. This will benefit those of us who communicate with people that have a distinct accent or are in a noisy environment.

For those of you who have a “work” phone and a “personal” phone or are a traveller who runs a phone on a local prepaid SIM card while having another on your regular home-country plan, you can manage both these phones from this audio adaptor. Here, it is just about pressing the same button to answer or hang up that call no matter the phone.

I am not sure whether this headset adaptor has the aptX high-quality music codec but this would come in handy if you use this device with good headphones and a media player that explots this codec.

This is definitely about Sony raising high hopes for this kind of Bluetooth headset audio adaptor so you can use the supplied earphones or a nice set of “cans” of your choice with your smartphone.

Article

Why You’ll End Up Wearing A Smart Watch | Gizmodo Australia

My Comments

With the increase in smart watches being developed by various companies including Google, Apple and Samsung, there has been optimism and doubt about whether we will start wearing these watches on our wrists.

What is the smart watch?

The smart watch is an extended-function watch that works with a smartphone as a wrist-based display for the phone. These watches are in a similar vein to the 1980s-era digital watch where the more functions it had, the more you could impress others with it. In a lot of cases, these functions served many practical uses like being able to time a process or log the duration of events like races.

It would tell the time using a customisable analogue or digital display but would be able to show up notifications from your smartphone. As well as being the clock, calendar, stopwatch and timer, it could also work as a remote control for your smartphone such as navigating the music that you are playing, selecting a contact to call or text or answering a call while you hear and talk to the caller via a Bluetooth headset. Another advantage that these would offer would be the ability for us to have a discreet glance at the watch if a message comes in on our phone.

Some doubters suggested that the smartwatch wouldn’t take off because of the fact that most young people don’t wear watches anymore. Instead they use the smartphone to tell the time or, if they have to have a watch, they would wear a quartz-driven dress watch. Of course, I would expect to see the smartwatch be considered as a wearable accessory to the smartphone and can evoke a level of curiosity from other people as we wear one of these watches just like it did with the digital watch.

What I would expect of the smartwatch would be to make use of Bluetooth 4.0 and similar technologies so it can run for at least 6 months on regular watch batteries. This is in addition to having a ladies’ form factor with similar functionality but appealing for the women to wear.

As well, it should be able to keep time independently of the host smartphone device yet use that device as a master clock for setting itself when initially started and when you cross time zones or whenever we change between standard time and daylight-saving time.

Personally, I would see these watches come on the scene as a viable practical mobile accessory for our phones rather than just a fashion accessory.

Article – From the horse’s mouth

Sony Corporation

Be moved with one-touch Sony’s new range of NFC products make sharing content easier than ever! : Consumer Products Press Releases : Sony Australia

My Comments

There are steps taking place to make pairing and connecting Bluetooth accessories to smartphones and tablets much easier. Initially the pairing routine was very convoluted with us having to remember pairing passwords or routines. Now most of the devices use a three-click pair routine where you hold down the Bluetooth button on the peripheral then place your smartphone in Bluetooth scanning mode to show up the device, whereupon you click on the name of the device.

But Sony have taken this further with speaker systems and headphones that you just touch to the NFC-capable smartphone, tablet or laptop to set them up. The Sony XPeria and VAIO tablets and laptops will have the integrated set-up software as part of the deal but those of you with Android devices made by other names will need to pick up NFC Easy Connect from the Google Play app store. Of course, these devices will pair up and connect with other Bluetooth hosts using the conventional method. On the other hand, I would love to be sure that this “touch-and-go” pairing can work with Windows 8 / RT equipment like the HP Envy X2 that I previously reviewed.

This will also simplify the connection of a previously-paired Bluetooth host to the speaker, which with some Bluetooth hosts and speaker docks cam be come a real pain as I have seen for myself with a Bluetooth speaker dock that was paired with an iPhone full of music in an “ad-hoc” manner even though it was normally paired with an iPad. At times, this required the iPad to he “re-connected” when the guest device was finished with. This touch-and-go routine could simplify the reconnection phase for “resident” Bluetooth hosts with the speakers or headphones.

This will also be an improvement as far as automotive setups and hi-fi equipment is concerned because it could cut down the time required to pair-up your device to the car or the home-theatre receiver, thus allowing you to get going with the music.

Introduction

By the end of Christmas and, in some cases, even through Advent, manufacturers are starting to run teaser press releases about what technologies and products they will release or exhibit at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

TV technology

A major part of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show was TV and video technology.

4K ultra-high-definition TV

Every TV manufacturer ran with a flatscreen TV set capable of displaying images at the new 4K ultra-high-definition resolution. This yields an image of 3840×2160 pixels, equivalent to an image captured by an 8 megapixel digital camera.

Some of these were 84” or 110” sets which wouldn’t fit in to most peoples’ living rooms and would be out of most peoples’ price ranges. But manufacturers like Sony are launching 4K TV models at 55” and 65” screen sizes. These are exploiting the high-pixel-density trend which is encompassing display design, in a similar effect to what the Apple Retina display has brought about.

At the moment, these sets upscale standard definition and high-definition images from broadcast and other video sources. But Sony is working on a hard-disk-based media player to play content that has been turned out in this form. This is part of a 4K media distribution network that they expect to launch by the end of the Northern-Hemisphere summer.

It is also reckoned that it will take a few years for the 4K UHDTV technology to mature and manufacturers to release models at a price that most of us can afford. This is something that will typically happen with most technology.

OLED and Display technology

Another trend that LG, Samsung and Sony are working on is the OLED display for the large-screen TV set. This is something most of us would experience with an HTC or Samsung smartphone and yields a high contrast ration and very deep colours.

Sony is wanting to apply it to a 4K ultra-high-definition display, but LG and Samsung are advancing the OLED screens at the 55” HD formats. For that matter, Panasonic was also showing a 56” 4K OLED screen as a prototype. Samsung also advanced a curved 55” HD prototype along with a curved 5” prototype for handheld applications.

On the other hand, LG has demonstrated a laser projection TV setup called the HECTO. This unit can show a 100” 16:9 image with a 22” throw using a special screen and yield this as a very bright image. The projection unit has what is expected of a flat-screen TV, including an integrated TV tuner.

Smart TV technologies

The TV is now more sophisticated and smart than it ever was. This is where it is not just a display device or just to pick up broadcast content. Here, the set effectively works as a computer with an app-driven ecosystem.

Panasonic has also now become part of the Smart TV Alliance which was started off by LG and Philips. On the other hand, Google TV had gained some more traction as a platform with LG with the GA6400 and GA7900 “main viewing area” sets.

As for Samsung, they have improved their Smart Hub user-interface and shown the Evolution Kit which is an upgrade kit for most of their current-issue flat-screen TVs and the sets to be introduced over subsequent years. This will add on improved processor performance as well as access to the new user interface; and is an example of what they have done to satisfy the reality that TVs do perform many years of service even as they are “pushed down” to other viewing areas.

The software that is being driven with the Smart TV environment is primarily content searching, TV Everywhere and “second-screen” applications. It is also leading to various “virtual cable box” applications where the TV is its own cable box with the content delivered via the Internet using end-to-end content-protection / subscription-management technology.

Audio and Video Technology

NFC “Touch & Go” operation

A strong trend that is showing up this year is NFC-driven “Touch & Go” operation. Here, you touch your NFC-capable Android smartphone or tablet to the device to have it pair up and connect via Bluetooth or set up via Wi-Fi for music playback. This avoids many confusing processes to get that wireless speaker going. As far as music systems and similar products go, it would also have the unit select the “Bluetooth” or “Network Audio” source automatically.

Sony had made a “big thing” of this feature with their wireless speakers and headsets through their press conference. As well, most of the manufacturers who are running wireless speakers, music systems or home-theatre-in-box systems are integrating this function in their products.

LG has implemented this further with their newer Blu-Ray home theatre. Here, the Android device can be set to throw its display on to the connected TV screen which would come in handy for viewing videos or playing games held on this device. Similarly the Android device can be set up to work as an “earphone” for the home theatre so you can use it late at night without scrambling around for the headset jack on the TV or home theatre central unit.

AV receivers

So far, Harman have fielded two new network AV receivers for that main audio-video system. Here, they can pull in Internet radio or content from a DLNA media source and have content “thrown” to them via the home network from your computer or mobile device using DLNA or AirPlay. The AVR-2700 has 8 HDMI connections with 4K image scale-up and a 7.1 audio output with 100W per channel while the more expensive AVR-3700 adds integrated Wi-Fi wireless and has a 7.2 audio output with a more powerful 125W per channel.

Smart video peripherals

There is an increase in the number of Blu-Ray players, home-theatre units and network media players that provide smart-TV functionality without you needing a smart TV.

For example, HiSense, ASUS and TCL were intending to sell Google-TV-based network media devices while Roku was providing a small but highly-strung network media receiver. This was eve to be able to work as a full-bore cable box for one on f the cable-TV companies in the US. Netgear also launched a new range of NeoTV network media players including some that had SlingPlayer clients and one driven by the Google TV platform.

But Archos are also fielding an Android-based network media box which is also showing that the Android platform associated with a lot of the smartphones is also appearing on the TVs as a low-cost option.

4K technology

At the moment, most video peripherals that connect to the new 4K ultra-high-definition TVs will upscale the standard-definition and high-definition images to the very high resolutions  offered by these sets. This is because there isn’t a common broadcast, on-demand or packaged-media distribution platform for distributing the content that is in this resolution.

Sony are using a hard-disk-based network media player with integrated BD-ROM drive, along with the content passed around on BD-ROM (Blu-Ray data) discs as a way of distributing the content. But they are working on an improved distribution method to go live by the middle of the year. As well, they said that consumer 4K will take some time to mature as equipment becomes more affordable.

Of course, Sony outlined that the 4K ultra-high-definition technology will be used in the video-production workflow, telecine (film-to-video) and video mastering applications. It is in a similar vein to the early days of digital audio recording before the arrival of the CD. This was where audio recordings were produced using at least a digital master-recording and this recording was used to turn out the records and tapes that were for public sale.

This will also involve films having their master negatives transferred to 4K video using equipment that scans the master negative at this resolution, then a 1080p scaled-down copy of this 4K master would be used for Blu-Ray distribution or HDTV broadcast. Sony also stated that they would implement the 4K production workflow into short-form video work like TV drama and commercials.

Broadcast-LAN cable TV setups

The FCC has recently laid down a pro-competition pro-consumer requirement for pay-TV providers to implement a broadcast-LAN strategy to work with most DLNA-compliant smart TVs and video peripherals. This is to drop the need to equip every TV in the house with a set-top box as is commonly the case with providing pay-TV to each set.

Intel has shown a broadcast-LAN gateway with 6 tuners and support for the DLNA content-protection requirements. This device is being positioned as being for use with Comcast’s cable-TV setups; while there are similar devices including cable boxes with this function being provided for other cable-TV systems.

Speakers and soundbars

There has been an increase in the number of wireless speakers and soundbars that are to work with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi (AirPlay / DLNA) setups.

Samsung has furthered the hybrid valve (vacuum tube) / transistor design that they used in a few wireless speakers of theirs in to their latest TV soundbar. This unit uses an accelerometer to allow it to self-adjust for lying flat or standing on its edge in respect to how it sounds and where it displays its status.

Video gaming

The console gaming market has undergone a shakeup over this year with NVIDIA and Valve fielding their TV-based gaming systems – the Shield portable and the Steam Box TV-based unit . This is alongside the Ouya Android-based TV console and a Kickstarter-funded portable showing up as Android-powered alternatives.

Here, the Steam Box would have access to the Valve Steam game store while the Shield would have access to the NVIDIA TegraZone games store alongside the Google Play app store. This is showing up to be an “uh-oh” moment for Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo who have thought of themselves in a position to “call the shots” for console gaming, especially when it comes to what titles can surface. I also suspect that this will also be a time for smaller independent studios to surface with some interesting games titles that are away from the norm.

Conclusion

Stay tuned for the next part of this series which will cover PC and home-network technology which will help in bringing the increasingly-connected home together from the CES.

You may have your music held on a smartphone or tablet but you want it coming through better and louder speakers. Similarly, you have packed out your laptop computer or an external hard disk which you connect to your laptop with music. But you still want the flexibility of moving around your space with your phone or positioning your laptop wherever you want it.

Devices you can use

Primarily you could use a wireless media adaptor that is connected to existing audio equipment or speakers. This function may be integrated in some audio devices like Internet radios or music systems. On the other hand, you could purchase a wireless-enabled speaker system such as a speaker dock which integrates the wireless media adaptor with the speakers.

Methods

Bluetooth

Creative Labs Sound BlasterAxx PS-SBX20 Bluetooth wireless speaker system for the smartphone, tablet or laptop

A common method would be to use a Bluetooth link. This is supported by every smartphone and tablet but would only work with a Bluetooth audio adaptor or Bluetooth speaker system.

Here, the Bluetooth audio device must work to the Bluetooth A2DP audio profile for music playback and AVRCP audio control profile if you want to control the phone from the device’s controls.

To set up your wireless link, you would have to “pair” you mobile device with the Bluetooth audio device. Here, you place the device in “discoverable” mode and then use the mobile device’s “add Bluetooth device” function to discover the audio device. Most recent devices go in to “discoverable” mode when they are first plugged in but with a device that is already connected to power, you may have to hold down a “setup” or “Bluetooth” button. Here, an indicator light may flash in a certain manner to show that the device is in “pairing” or “discoverable” mode.

Bluetooth audio setup with a laptop and a Bluetooth audio adaptor

When you go to your mobile device and use the “add Bluetooth device” function, there will be a list of devices you had already “paired” with your phone as well as a new device name, typically representing the audio device’s brand or model name. Select this device and the pairing process will take place. If your mobile device shows a “password” or “PIN” request as part of this setup, enter 0000 in response to this request.

In this situation, you will likely have your mobile device connecting to your Bluetooth speakers or adaptor. On the other hand, if you already paired your phone or tablet to the Bluetooth audio device and your device and mobile device are on, you would have to go to the Bluetooth menu to select the “Connect” option to establish the connection.

If you subsequently use the same Bluetooth audio device, you may have to “connect” to that device to have it play its music through the audio device. This may require you to enable Bluetooth and, in some cases, select the device’s name to connect it.

Laptop users would then find that the Bluetooth A2DP and Hands Free Profile will present themselves as “sound devices” through the use of class drivers implemented by Windows 7 and MacOS X. You may have to set the Bluetooth virtual sound cards as default sound devices if you are using applications that don’t allow you to determine the sound device for that application. I have covered this issue in further detail in an article about using laptops with Bluetooth devices.

Wi-Fi wireless

Another wireless connection method is to use a Wi-Fi wireless network. This uses a choice of two protocols: Apple Airplay and the open-standard DLNA protocol.

Network setup

These setups require that the mobile device and the wireless network media player are linked through a network that has a Wi-Fi segment and are seen as the same logical network.

In some cases, the network media player can be connected to an Ethernet or HomePlug segment as long as that segment is accessible to the Wi-Fi wireless segment.

Denon Cocoon 500 Wi-Fi wireless speaker that works with DLNA or AirPlay setups

These setups can work with network media players and wireless speakers that implement Wi-Fi Direct thus avoiding the need to use a wireless router like a MiFi to create a wireless-network segment. Similarly, some Wi-Fi Direct “master-device” implementations like the Intel implementation used in Windows laptops can allow the device to be a host for a Wi-Fi Direct segment and a client to an existing Wi-Fi network, thus bridging the connections. This can come in handy with public wireless hotspots due to client isolation and, in most cases, Web-based login being established on them; features which could impede the establishment of a Wi-Fi wireless music network.

But you can gain better results with a dedicated WiFi router or access point like one of the portable “MiFi” routers.

Infact most of these setups implement WPS one-push setup for Android mobile devices, Windows 7 computers and most current-issue Internet audio equipment. On the other hand, they will have a pre-determined device-unique WPA-PSK device passphrase for use with Apple devices.

Sony SA-NS410 Wireless Network Speaker

It is also worth knowing that some speakers like the Sony SA-NS310, SA-NS410 and SA-NS510 also have access to advanced functions through the use of a dedicated smartphone app. In the case of these speakers, they have direct access to online music services or Internet radio with this software but you may find that they would work better with a regular small-network setup with a router serving a dedicated Internet connection. Again a “MiFi” may come in handy here when you use them at a hotel or serviced apartment with the existing public-acces Wi-Fi network.

Apple AirPlay

This method works best with iOS devices like the iPhone or with computers that are running iTunes. Here, you have to use the AirPlay functionality within iTunes or the music player in your iOS device to “push” your music to your AirPlay-capable device.

Rogue Amoeba have provided the AirFoil program for MacOS X and Windows platforms which turn your AirPlay-capable devices in to a virtual soundcard for your computer. I have helped a friend with purchasing and installing this program on their Windows 7 computer so they can pipe Spotify through an Apple AirPort Express device connected to their home stereo. This program sells for US$29 per computer.

DLNA

The UPnP AV / DLNA-based media setup is a highly-flexible network media playback setup which is more open-frame in nature. I have covered this setup previously due to this ability and the ability for many hardware manufacturers and software developers to support it.

If the idea is to have your music device such as your laptop or smartphone control the music, you will need to make sure that the device can work as a “MediaRenderer”. Devices like the Sony CMT-MX750Ni music system, the WD TV Live network media adaptors or the Pioneer XW-SMA3 wireless speakers will work with this function out of the box but some devices that support this function may require you to visit their setup menu to enable “DLNA Remote Control” or similar functions.

A DLNA-based setup requires a media server to be installed on your computer or mobile device. Windows-based computers will perform this function using Windows Media Player but you can use other third-party players like TwonkyMedia. Here you would have to point these programs to your music library.

Android phones and tablets can work from one of many different DLNA media server-controller apps like TwonkyMedia or AllShare, which is set up to share the content on your device or the SD card.

Depending on the media-client device, a DLNA setup can be managed from the media client device’s control surface or from your computer or mobile device. For example, Windows Media Player that comes with Windows 7 or 8 offers a “Play To” function which allows you to have your content “pushed to” devices that support this kind of control.

DLNA can work as a virtual sound card for Windows computers if you use the Jamcast virtual-sound-card software on your computer, which costs US$29.99. This can be useful for setups like the streaming music services like MOG, Pandora or Spotify which rely on a Web page or client program for them to work.

On the other hand, you could use the DLNA setup to have a laptop play music from your smartphone or tablet. This can be achieved with TwonkyMedia Manager for all platforms or with Windows Media Player 12 (Windows 7 and 8). In the case of Windows Media Player 12, you would select “Stream” – “Allow remote control of my player” to have this option work.

Worth knowing

Sometimes if one of the wireless speakers doesn’t work properly such as failing to reinstate with the device or network or a Wi-Fi speaker failing to connect to another wireless network segment, you may have to reset the speaker. This is a procedure that is dependent on the speaker but may involve you pressing a “RESET” button in a certain way  Then you may have to pair your audio device to the speaker again or configure it to the network you want it to join.

If the idea is to operate that Bluetooth or Wi-Fi speaker at a pool party, avoid the temptation to think that you can operate the iPhone that’s containing the music from the pool or spa. This is where a lot of portable devices become damaged due to the water. Here, it would be better to have the device containing the music, as well as the speaker located as far back from the water as you can, such as near a wall or safety fence.

Conclusion

Once you have your smartphone, tablet or laptop working with a wireless-audio link such as a Bluetooth link, you can be able to have a chance to hear better sound out of these devices while allowing yourself to move the smartphone or similar device around freely.

Update Note

This article, originally published on October 2012, has been updated to make reference to Rogue Amoeba’s AirFoil virtual-sound-card software for Apple AirPlay and to update new pricing details for Jamcast. As well, I have provided direct links to the software developers’ Web pages. I have also created links to the product reviews for the Sony SA-NS410 and SA-NS510 speakers which I had reviewed since the article was first published.

Article

Sony STR-DN1030 AV receiver with AirPlay, WiFi and Bluetooth starts shipping – Engadget

My Comments

Since the 1960s, the stereo receiver had, like some other pieces of hi-fi equipment, become a “starting piece” for many hi-fi systems. Here, it would mean that the unit, once connected to some speakers, could simply do something like give you access to broadcast radio content. Then, they could take a “building-block” approach to establishing a hi-fi system by purchasing a turntable, CD player or cassette deck as they can afford the equipment.

Sony have worked on this concept with this latest home-theatre receiver by having it able to pull in broadcast radio or be hooked up to a home network for Internet radio, IPTV, content held on a DLNA Media Server or content held on your smartphone or portable media player. But, like with other video peripherals, Sony have pressed the STR-DN1030 in to service as a “smart-TV” terminal.

A design issue that needs to be looked at with these home-theatre receivers is whether they have to be dependent on a TV being on all the time they are in use. I see this being of importance if you are using the receiver to listen to audio content from the Internet or from a home-network source, and you shouldn’t have to “light up” the TV just to select this content.

This reminded me of visiting a friend’s hotel room and “flicking around” the radio content on the TV; or another friend who sent me a picture of their hotel TV tuned to a favoured London radio station when they were in London. Similarly it reminded me of an ultra-cheap DVD player hooked up to a friend’s home theatre system and pressed in to service to play music from CDs for a housewarming. These situations had a television set “lit up” just so that audio content can be navigated.

What I would like to see more with the video peripherals serving as smart-TV terminals is that they capitalise on their strengths yet are like the video cassette recorder. This is where they can augment any old TV with this kind of online TV functionality.