Companies are slowly moving away from including the humble 3.5mm jack on their smartphones. We have a few companies already coming out with devices sans the jack - LeEco, Motorola and the most famous of all, Apple. Now the organization behind the USB standard has come up with a new guideline for a spec called USB Audio Class 3.0, which eliminates the need of having an audio jack in the smartphone altogether.
The spec from USB-IF is primarily about allowing manufacturers to remove the old 3.5mm jack socket, while also enabling slimmer devices, improved water resistance, and new digital audio features. The new 3.0 audio specification is also designed to improve power efficiency and key word detection for better voice recognition. What is important however is that the use of a USB plug still allows for analogue signal to be passed through, so we may see the return of the audio dongle included with future phones. The specs also says that future devices can feature hifi-quality signal processing for better audio overall.
Does this mean the death of the audio jack is near? Will we see slimmer phones sans the hole for your headphones? Will we have to re-live the age of audio adapter dongles? Only time will know so stay tuned to TechNave for more new and info on this soon.
[Source]
COMMENTS