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Germany's Fraunhofer has introduced its new Full-HD Voice technology for Android smartphones. It will use the AAC-ELD codec, close to that used for music playback, for high-quality voice over LTE networks. Demos are promised at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next week, and the company likens the quality to talking to another person in the same room.
MPEG LA, which holds patent rights for several technologies including components of MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ATSC, and AVC, is now offering a consolidated license for patents pertaining to MVC (Multiview Video Coding). MVC is the standard for encoding and decoding video that is used in 3D-capable hardware, such as Blu-ray disc players and burners, video cameras, and PCs.
Best known for its work on the MP3 format, Fraunhofer this afternoon said it would use Mobile World Congress next week to formally roll out two new audio formats specially designed for mobile. MPEG Surround can produce as much as 7.2-channel surround sound but has no real effect on the bitrate versus a stereo mix. A smartphone or a networked media hub using MPEG Surround can get the full audio of a movie without needing more space or a faster network connection.
Fraunhofer has announced the iPoint 3D recognition device to be displayed at CeBIT. iPoint 3D lets users communicate with a 3D display using simple hand and finger gestures, and without having to wear special devices such as 3D glasses or data gloves. Modeled to be slightly larger than a keyboard, the device comes equipped with two built-in FireWire cameras that are used to monitor the person’s hands. The iPoint 3D is designed for a wide variety of uses ranging from business to more casual video gaming.
At the Plastic Electronic 2008 show, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems showed the first touch-controlled flat light source. Because Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) are cold to the touch, they could act as ideal touch controls. The innovation lies in the lack of any additional foils traditionally required to operate the light, which is both a switch and a source. Therefore, no additional hardware is required as the OLED is used to read the touch signal.
