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AirPods Delay Attributed To Apple Ensuring Both Earpieces Receive Audio At Same Time (macrumors.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Mac Rumors: AirPods were originally slated to launch in October, but the wireless earphones were later delayed. Apple said it needed "a little more time" before they are ready for customers, and it has yet to provide an official update since. While the exact reason for the delay remains unclear, a person familiar with the development of AirPods told The Wall Street Journal that Apple's troubles appear to be related to its "efforts to chart a new path for wireless headphones," in addition to resolving what happens when users lose one of the earpieces or the battery dies. The Wall Street Journal reports: "A person familiar with the development of the AirPod said the trouble appears to stem from Apple's effort to chart a new path for wireless headphones. In most other wireless headphones, only one earpiece receives a signal from the phone via wireless Bluetooth technology; it then transmits the signal to the other earpiece. Apple has said AirPod earpieces each receive independent signals from an iPhone, Mac or other Apple device. But Apple must ensure that both earpieces receive audio at the same time to avoid distortion, the person familiar with their development said. That person said Apple also must resolve what happens when a user loses one of the earpieces or the battery dies."
Apple should get out of the Courage business and get back into making computer hardware.
I don't know how much more "courage" the industry can take...
I don't know the meaning of the word 'don't' - J
Christmas is officially ruined.
Next up: Apple complicates toilet paper.
Table-ized A.I.
My headphones with the headphone plug get left and right at the same time, everyfricken time.
Make then use regular off-the-shelf heading aid batteries. User replaceable and available at any pharmacy.
Bha-ha-ha-ha...
Oh, you're serious.
How is Apple going to make money off the the batteries that way? Now they might stamp an apple logo on some off-the-shelf hearing-aid batteries, polish them to a mirror finish, and put them in some slick looking packaging and sell them for 8X the price. Excuse me while I go patent my new business model...
Sending data to both ear pieces means that both ear pieces are master, this gives you the ability to use one while the other stays charged and switch them when the first one dies, not possible if one of them was a slave. This is how I would use them, provided they are comfortable and don't fall out of the ear as easily as the current earbuds do.
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law - Aleister Crowley
The US economy actually depends on innovation similar to how the Middle East economies depend on oil. We are innovation addicts.
It's a myth that innovation itself is needed to stimulate consumption. There are plenty of existing things people already want, if they simply had the money.
But, anything that becomes a commodity to manufacture or manage gets shipped to cheap 3rd-world manufacturers (C3WM) where labor is cheaper. To maintain the USA's higher cost of living, we have to push the envelope to create new devices and markets that are too cutting edge to be commoditized (yet).
For example, when personal computers were new, they were mostly made in the USA. As they became more of a commodity, their production shifted overseas. Jobs himself used to assemble Apple computers in his garage.
Apple similarly knows they have to push the envelope to avoid being bowled over by C3WM who can throw labor at the problem. The expense and complexity of wireless earphones may seem like overkill now, but if they make Apple products slightly more convenient than the others, they have a sales and marketing edge over the C3WM that allows them to charge a premium.
Eventually the C3WM will catch up in wireless earphones and every phone will support them, and Apple will have to move on to the next Next Big Thing (which is probably already in their lab).
Thus, it's not just a "first world problem", but a first world survival technique (if you want to survive as a first-worlder).
Table-ized A.I.
Apple also must resolve what happens when a user loses one of the earpieces or the battery dies
What's supposed to happen? FindMyDeadEarpiece[tm]?
No, they're still smug too.
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
If they truly cared, they would have figured out how to make wireless earphones work properly before removing the headphone jack from their phones.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
If they did care, they could have used the CSR 8670 which supports device-to-device syncing and streaming, as used in the Earin and Bragi Dash products. Out-of-the-box, off-the-shelf operation as needed by the AirPods. But then, why use something everyone else uses (that works), when you can invent your own (W1) that doesn't? Because - courage!
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Yes, they could. The CSR 8670 can do that very thing - and it maintains nice and tight sync as well. Plus AptX support...
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
All phone companies know that the real way to make billions is to be build a 4 inch thick brick with 2 weeks of battery life; a phone where every component can be swapped using thumb screws.
But, alas, phone companies hate making money. That's the only possible explanation.
is screwing your customers, then ok. Personally I prefer companies that make lots of great products and sell them for barely any profit so I get to have great stuff for less. A company with huge profit margins is a company that is charging more than they have to.
If you are an investor, liking a company to make a high profit margin makes sense, though I still have to question it in the case of Apple since they hoard the cash rather than pay it out as a dividend. However if as a consumer you applaud high profit margin you are silly.
Problem 1 - Lose one earpiece.
Solution 1 - Maybe use a tether of some sort to keep the earpieces together?
Problem 2 - Battery dies
Solution 2 - Maybe have that tether double as a charging lead? You could plug it into some sort of handy port on the phone to keep the batteries charged up.
Problem 3 - Audio sync between earpieces.
Solution 3 - Perhaps shift the audio hardware to the phone, decode the audio there and then transfer simple audio signals down the tether to the earpieces? That might work.
You are in a twisty maze of processor lines, all alike.
There is a lot of hype here.
They're spending hundreds of thousands of dollars researching this, when they should have just stuck a $5 audio cable on them..
It was written using the new out-of-sync headset, and summarized once for each ear-piece.