January 2024

The Things That Stand Out
As we start a new year for this publication, it's time to offer some perspective
about the things that inspire us for 2024.
Editorial By J. Martins

  Following my previous reference to the Urbanista Malibu, the world's first self-charging wireless speaker using an integrated Powerfoyle membrane that charges the battery whenever exposed to indoor or outdoor light, Exeger, the developer of the Powerfoyle technology, is now top of mind for 2024. We will attend Exeger's press conference, selected to be part of the Official CES 2024 Media Days, which is in itself a significant honor and a sign of the impact this Swedish company is having on the technology world.

Exeger has also announced a strategic partnership with Tymphany, one of the largest OEM/ODMs of speakers and audio systems in the world, to produce a self-powered speaker that will be unveiled at CES 2024. Tymphany's Hybrid-life Green Speaker reference design will be powered by Exeger's patented solar cell technology and is certain to cause significant impact in the audio and consumer electronics industry.

Exeger's Powerfoyle technology can significantly contribute to drastically cut down the need for disposable, single-use batteries in common objects such as remote controls, alarm clocks, bedroom lights, portable radios, speakers, and much more. A significant contribution to reduce dangerous waste and toward sustainability.

Next on our list is — once again — the evolution of wireless power technologies in general. Complementing energy harvesting technologies from light/solar sources, we are now seeing an important evolution in the technologies that will continuously power our devices.

The new and very exciting Qi2 standard, officially launched with products making its debut at CES 2024 is one of the most significant developments in the mobile and consumer spaces, boosting convenience, interoperability, safety, and sustainability.

Also exciting is the use of projected and long-range power distribution, which will be key for the smart home—and will soon break the last frontier for wireless in the office. Leading the efforts in RF wireless charging are a series of companies with actual working solutions. NuCurrent, Atmosic, Ossia, Wi-Charge, Powercast, and Energous are among the names that deserve attention.

For audio development, combined with the general availability of USB Power Delivery up to 240W and 48V, these new exciting technologies will allow us to rethink the very foundation of product design.

Meanwhile, while the first Bluetooth LE Audio and Auracast products are finally reaching the market, we are seeing manufacturers push for a formal adoption of LC3plus, as a higher audio quality LE Audio profile. But given the pace of things on the Bluetooth front, I bet we will be seeing quicker adoption of higher bandwidth alternatives to support high bit-rate, lossless audio streams. We have just seen an announcement from Qualcomm, with the use of micro-power Wi-Fi to extend wireless audio range and support for up to 24-bit/192kHz lossless in true wireless form factors. Something that could likely see Apple's support, given that its AirPlay communication protocol already leverages Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi Peer-to-Peer) to, among other things, stream and broadcast audio (like Auracast does). And we know that Apple will be making a key announcement in 2024 (likely to extend two or combine all these technology options).

Also looming in this space is ultra-wideband (UWB), a technology that has been adopted somewhat stealthily and is now built into billions of devices, used for Find Someone/Something, indoor navigation, and lock/unlock features. The FiRa Consortium just updated its 2.0 Technical Specifications for UWB Technology introducing applications such as "Point and Trigger" that lets users control UWB-enabled connected systems, such as TVs or smart speakers.

And now, efforts supported by the UWB Alliance and the Audio Engineering Society (AES) are targeting the development of UWB standards for ultra-high-quality wireless audio applications. The AES has formally created the SC-02-02-B Task Group to develop a new standard for UWB high-resolution, low-latency audio interface, which will build upon and provide extensions to the IEEE 802.15.4ab draft standard. Industry support is pouring in, and we are hoping to see a working demonstration of soon-to-be-available headphones — from Lenbrook's PSB brand — at CES 2024.

Of course, CES is just the start of what is expected to be a strong year for audio shows, with the Audio Expo North America (AXPONA, April 12-14) and High End Munich 2024 (May 9-12) among the shows we are eagerly anticipating.

Added Note: Florida International Audio Expo February 16-18
                   SouthWest Audio Fest March 15-17
                   Pacific Audio Fest September 6-8
                   Capital Audiofest November 8-10

I'll close with our renewed commitment to expand on our trajectory initiated in 2013, when we embraced our mission to follow audio innovation, true to our motto, Advancing the Evolution of Audio Technology. We will continue to expand on our mission to offer the leading Audio Development and Design Publication.

J. Martins
Editor-in-Chief

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