Samsung's Next Flagship Smartphone May Not Feature a Headphone Jack (sammobile.com)

Samsung's next flagship smartphone, which may be released sooner than later due to the Note 7 fiasco, may not feature a 3.5mm headphone jack. In fact, Samsung may be one of many manufacturers to make the jump from the 3.5mm headphone jack to USB-C for audio. The USB Implementers Forum published the Audio Device Class 3.0 specification that brings USB Audio over USB Type-C. What this means is that "mobile devices including smartphones, tablets and ultraportable laptops could ditch the headphone jack in the very near future without worrying about having to bake audio support into USB-C or a new, proprietary port," writes Chris Smith via BGR. SamMobile adds: "Removing the dedicated audio plug will also allow OEMs to create smartphones that are slimmer and have better water resistance capabilities."

Comments

Re:Well duh

[Anonymous Coward]

"With the data rates they can get with their W1 chip"

You've fallen for some marketing BS there I'm afraid. Their W1 chip is just bluetooth with custom pairing on top (like other manufacturers have done with NFC for years). They get no better data rate than any other bluetooth 4.2 chipsets on the market.

IT'S A DATA PORT

[globaljustin]

It's not *just* a "headphone jack"

Here's what we're removing: a universally compatible **data port** that is also a backwards compatible audio only port that will connect to devices over 100 years old in some cases.

It works really well and allows device manufacturers like Square to make one smartphone add-on that works with all smartphones.

Re:Sigh not more of this bullshit

[msauve]

"Your on a flight, you have to have flight mode enabled. At that point wireless headphones are not an option."

That's not correct. While "flight mode" on some phones may also turn off Bluetooth, there is no issue with using Bluetooth (or WiFi) on a plane. My phone disables cellular/BT/WiFi when I switch to airplane mode, but I can then turn Bluetooth back on.

If your air carrier provides Wi-Fi service during flight, you may use those services. You can also continue to use short-range Bluetooth accessories, like wireless keyboards.

Source: FAA