XMOS Powers Growth in Voice with $15M Funding Round Led by Infineon Technologies
XMOS Ltd, a leading vendor in voice capture solutions for the OEM consumer electronics market, has successfully complete a $15M Series-E funding round. The round was led by Infineon Technologies with additional funding from existing investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Draper Esprit, Foundation Capital and Robert Bosch Venture Capital. Following previous platform cooperations, Infineon Technologies AG acquired a minority stake in the company, strengthening the strategic partnership.
Audio Precision Introduces Next-Generation APx Bluetooth Duo Module
Audio Precision unveiled their next-generation Bluetooth I/O module for APx Series audio analyzers. The APx Bluetooth Duo module incorporates all the capabilities and features of AP’s original Bluetooth module, while delivering a wider selection of A2DP codecs, faster pair and connection times, an increased feature set within APx500 measurement software, and improved RF shielding for use in production test environments.
NPR and Edison Research Release New Report on Smart Speakers
When NPR and Edison Research released The Smart Audio Report in June 2017, one thing was clear: Voice-activated smart speakers are becoming a must-have device in American homes. The original report revealed that 42% of smart speaker owners consider their device "essential" to everyday life and 65% wouldn't want to go back to life without one. Now available now NPR and Edison Research, a second part of the report reveals how smart speakers influence purchase behavior.
Waves Audio Celebrates 25 Years of Innovation in Digital Audio Signal Processing Plug-ins
Waves Audio is celebrating its 25th anniversary, an occasion that also marks the advent of the digital plugin itself — a concept that has revolutionized every corner of audio production over the last quarter-century. In honor of those 25 years, Waves is shipping revamped and reskinned versions of three of its classic plugins: the Q10 Equalizer, the AudioTrack channel strip plugin and the L1 Ultramaximizer level maximizer/peak limiter.
Amazon Music Adds Alexa Interaction to its MP3 Music Streaming Service
Claiming to be the "best of both worlds,", Amazon just announced that its Amazon Music service - that regrettably is still based on the officially discontinued highly compressed MP3 codec - is now integrated with the company's voice personal assistant, accessible directly from an updated app for iOS and Android. The service is available only in the US, UK, Germany and Austria, where Alexa is available (English and German) and allows Amazon Music users to shout for music wherever they go.
Get Ready to Join the Loudspeaker Industry with Voice Coil October 2017
Getting ready for another edition of the AES Convention in New York City, and many other October shows, this edition of Voice Coil is another one for the records, including an extensive directory of Amplifier and DSP Vendors, and a review of Bose's latest patent of a new bass reflex and tuned pipe enclosure. In Test Bench, Vance Dickason characterizes the 745NEOBe, a pro sound 1.4” beryllium compression driver from Radian Audio, and the updated CQQ76 ribbon tweeter from BoZhen New Audio Lab.
RTW and Nixer Pro Audio Partner on Handheld Dante Network Monitoring and Diagnostic Device
With AoIP becoming increasingly popular in all sorts of professional audio installations, visual audio meter and audio monitoring specialist, RTW, announced a global distribution partnership with Nixer Pro Audio, to make its PD-Dante handheld monitoring and diagnostic device available globally. The PD-Dante device allows users to listen directly into Dante streams located on the network. First deliveries will be made in December 2017.
Axis Expands Its Network Audio Offering for Smart Background Music and Public Address Systems
Axis Communications, expanded its offering to include audio distribution for background music and public address. The company announced the addition of its AXIS C8033 Network Audio Bridge, which allows integration between analog and network audio systems. Axis also announced the 2N SIP Mic which is a compatible network microphone console that can become a complete public address system when paired together with Axis network speakers.
Visit the Klipsch Museum of Audio History - Support the Heritage Museum Association
The Klipsch Museum of Audio History is officially open since July 2017. Jim Hunter, who was Paul Klipsch’s number one engineer for many years, as well as the former Engineering Manager, and Manager of Engineering Operations at Klipsch, was tasked by the company to form the Klipsch Heritage Museum Association, Inc, upon recently retiring back to Hope, Arkansas. The Klipsch Museum of Audio History contains milestone Klipsch products, test equipment, audio source components, and even some early manufacturing equipment.
Bose Introduces Truly Wireless SoundSport Free Earbuds and Updates Iconic QC35
Bose made two important announcements on its popular range of headphones. Entering a new increasingly popular category, Bose introduced its SoundSport Free truly wireless earbuds, designed especially for active users that want to workout with music. At the same time, the Massachusetts company updated its iconic QC35 noise-cancelling headphones to become the first to offer voice access to Google Assistant, and introducing new settings to control environmental noise.