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LE Audio and the Future of Hearing

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An article on Thurrott.com announcing new features in the 2nd Developer Preview release of Android 13 states that Bluetooth is now included in Android 13. Yippee!!!

If LE Audio is now officially in the next version of Android, I don’t see how Apple can fail to include it in iOS 16.

Google Releases Android 13 Developer Preview 2 - Thurrott.com4

(because Apple doesn’t make a smartphone with a clever stylus, I’m planning on eventually upgrading my Galaxy Note 8 to a Samsung device with stylus that is BT LE Audio capable as well as getting the iPhone Pro Max this fall).

Combine that with the news a few weeks ago that Google was improving the way changes to the Bluetooth stack are distributed so everyone gets more timely and consistent updates. Maybe the first iteration will be a basic with mfi-like functionality, but with more complexity added iteratively down the track.

I recently bought a refurb iphone 8 to tide me through the next year. Even though I’m still Android at heart I now have a grudging respect for how Apple have made it all pretty seamless. I don’t fear the phone ringing as much I did (I have mfi aids). I think Apple will do LE Audio but they’ll add their own wrinkles to tie their customers to their ecosystem. It will be interesting to see.

any phone with mediatek will be cubersome for user as its known for shady deaing with source code so updating os and its all feature will be questionmark
always go for qualcom

Edited

In reply to @tenkan

I thought we had info that they were done with the standard. I hope (but suspect we will) that we will not be presented with products that sort of meet the standard and later learn that they aren’t fully compatible.

@MDB said:

I hope (but suspect we will) be presented with products that sort of meet the standard and later learn that they aren’t fully compatible

I can’t agree more, it always seems to happen like this.
Time will tell.

In reply to @MDB

@MDB said:

I hope (but suspect we will) that we will not be presented with products that sort of meet the standard and later learn that they aren’t fully compatible.

I’ll take the contrary position. To use the label the manufacturer needs to get their product certified. I think that the testing suites they use are quite exhaustive and rigorous. You just have to look at the link that @Tenkan provided to see how much money is involved. The brand is everything.

I don’t know the 5.3 and LE audio standards well, but we’ve had something similar to what I’m talking about with BT 5 with optional features. We’ve also had companies not claiming certification but claiming future compatibility.

I guess manufacturers will be free to add things on but if it says ‘’ on the box it sihould be able to connect with and interact with another device that has ‘LE Audio’ on the box. In all ways covered by the specification anyway. Similar to how an airpod connected to an iphone gives you spacial audio but you still get plain old audio if you connect it to anything else.

Actually I might be misunderstanding what we’re talking about. I’m still trying to work out where and why the tin foil hat might be needed too. :thinking:

Yeah, actually stating that it’s should be pretty safe, but I can imagine lots of grey areas and misinformation. I’m thinking of how it was with with lots of people saying all that was needed was 5 and Android 10. Some of this stuff comes down to how the cell phone carrier implements. Resound compatiblity info gets down to the carrier level.
Cheers.

Yeah so this is David Hollanders take on

Viewpoint: How Bluetooth LE Audio can empower the hearing-loss community18

David Hollander, of the Bluetooth SIG, considers how Bluetooth LE Audio enables those suffering from hearing loss to take advantage of the same benefits

So really it’s left up to the manufacturers to implement and make it work, and we’ve seen what can happen when it’s left up to them.

Was thinking (Dangerous, I know. :>) Bluetooth 5 came out in phones pretty early. Samsung had them in early 2017 and devices that took advantage of it were slow to come. With 5.3 we already have some devices coming out, but phones are slow to materialize.

Perhaps it is the cynicism in me, but the “Beloved” cash cow associated with Phonak Roger Devices, might be held up deliberately from implementing LE Bluetooth, to give them time to harness, in some way locking them into Phonak Roger devices, to prevent them loosing an extremely valuable revenue stream…. Of course, I could be miles off base…. Cheers Kev :wink:

The Roger devices only use for configuration in the app, they use a signal in the same spectrum as BT for the transmission of what the mics hear, but different, like the TV Connectors do. (I think that’s called SoundStream.) You’re right, I don’t see them changing that. And unless they figure out a soft way to enforce their licensing (“receiver”) then that wouldn’t change even if they have a way. Money money money. I love the gear. I don’t have to pay for it, but understand it would be nice if it were more affordable.

WH

My connector has “SoundField System” on the back. So I guess I have reading to do to sort this all out.

WH

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