AudioTelligence Announces Orsana LE Audio Assistive Listening Device

AudioTelligence launched Orsana, a demonstration device of an assistive listening solution to help users hear clearly in noisy environments, with hearing aids or consumer TWS earbuds. Orsana connects wirelessly to Bluetooth LE Audio enabled earbuds or hearing aids – and can be used by up to 6 people at the same time. The device is available for hearing aid and consumer electronics companies interested in implementing their own assisted listening solutions.

In 2022, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) announced the Auracast extension of the Bluetooth LE Audio specifications, combining audio sharing and broadcast audio into a new term that would make it easier to promote. The audio innovation promises to propel audio streaming forward by letting users share their audio or select from publicly available Auracast wireless audio streams. At Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2023 in Barcelona the technology was demonstrated in a practical manner for the very first time.

During its Snapdragon Summit 2022, Qualcomm unveiled the latest generation of Snapdragon processors and chips that will power mobile devices, wearables and countless consumer electronics and audio devices to be introduced in 2023. The Snapdragon S5 Gen 2, and the Snapdragon S3 Gen 2 Bluetooth audio chipsets are the evolution from the devices announced in 2022, designed to support Bluetooth LE Audio.

Taiwan-based Airoha Technology announced that its new series of Bluetooth audio chips have successfully completed the latest Bluetooth Low Energy Audio Qualification Process and will be "widely available" to manufacturers in the first half of 2023. Airoha is one of the most important suppliers of chips for true wireless earbuds and the LE Audio certification is also an important R&D achievement for its Bluetooth audio R&D team consisted of hundreds of engineers.

Following the publication of the full set of LE Audio specifications by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), the industry is now putting together the building blocks that will enabling bringing products supporting the next generation of Bluetooth audio to market. This article explains what is needed and how to support Auracast broadcast audio, a new Bluetooth capability that enables an audio transmitter to broadcast to an unlimited number of nearby Bluetooth audio receivers.

Nordic Semiconductor has used the latest trade shows globally to showcase its latest low power wireless solutions, and introduced a series of new development solutions targeting Bluetooth LE Audio. At the Embedded World Exhibition that took place in Nuremberg, Germany, Nordic offered demonstrations of its new nRF5340 Audio Development Kit (DK), a design platform for rapid development of LE Audio products, and the Nordic Thingy:53 a rapid prototyping solution, both based on Nordic’s nRF5340 SoC.

CEVA announced that its latest RivieraWaves Bluetooth 5.3 IP family now supports Auracast broadcast audio, the new audio sharing standard, based on the Bluetooth LE Audio broadcasting specification, unveiled by the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG). According to CEVA, Auracast broadcast audio is set to transform the shared audio experience, enabling an unlimited number of Auracast receiver-compliant devices such as TWS earbuds, headphones, hearing aids and wireless speakers to simultaneously receive audio broadcast from one or several Auracast transmitter devices.