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The first big Android 13 feature revealed, and it’s great news for music lovers
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While Android 12 remains a distant pipe dream for someAndroid phoneusers and abuggy mess for others, Google is already hard at work on Android 13 ahead of a 2022 launch.
One of the first confirmed features for the update sounds like the full support for the Bluetooth Low Energy Audio (LE Audio) standard, which was introduced alongside Bluetooth 5.2 last year, in order to boost the streaming of audio overheadphones.
The tech, which has been described as the “next generation of Bluetooth audio” should see improved quality over the current Standard Bluetooth Codec, while using lower data rates and saving on device battery life.
Until now Bluetooth LE had only supported standard data transfers, but the new compatibility with audio improves the experience fortrue wireless budsthanks to Multi-Stream Audio support.
The incoming feature was spotted by Mishaal Rahman (viaAndroid Police) within an Android Open Source Project ‘commit‘. He says that “Google recently merged an LC3 (the LE Audio codec) encoder and is adding the codec as an option in settings. It’ll be the highest priority A2DP source codec,” which all but confirms the inclusion of the tech in Android 13.
Android 13 may be the first release to add full support for Bluetooth LE Audio.Google recently merged an LC3 (the LE Audio codec) encoder and is adding the codec as an option in settings. It’ll be the highest priority A2DP source codec.Commits:https://t.co/tXicKLMZbqpic.twitter.com/ZHcd22grEs
“Extensive listening tests have shown that LC3 will provide improvements in audio quality over the SBC codec included with Classic Audio, even at a 50% lower bit rate,” says Manfred Lutzky Head of Audio for Communications at Fraunhofer IIS. “Developers will be able to leverage this power savings to create products that can provide longer battery life or, in cases where current battery life is enough, reduce the form factor by using a smaller battery.”
Android 13 isn’t likely to arrive until this spring, when Google will announce the key features and offer several beta versions of the software ahead of a release on Pixel phones next autumn. What would you like to see added or changed for this cycle? Let us know @trustedreviews on Twitter.
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Chris Smith is a freelance technology journalist for a host of UK tech publications, including Trusted Reviews. He’s based in South Florida, USA. …
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
