Cambridge, U.K. – More CE products are coming equipped with CSR’s AptX audio codec for Bluetooth.
The latest products include the Samsung Galaxy S4 smartphone and Scandyna’s active SmallPod and MiniPod Bluetooth speakers.
The AptX codec delivers CD-quality music over Bluetooth by eliminating the compressed-music artifacts that Bluetooth’s SBC audio codec makes more noticeable when an MP3 file or other compressed-music file is transmitted wirelessly, CSR said. AptX converts compressed music to PCM, then re-encodes it into compressed AptX for over-air transmission via Bluetooth. Once received, the file is restored back to PCM.
AptX is already incorporated in multiple smartphones and tablets, headphones and tabletop digital media speakers. Apple also supports AptX and AAC over Bluetooth in its desktops and laptops, but the company supports only AAC over Bluetooth in its mobile devices, CSR said.
In the U.S., smartphones equipped with AptX include the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2, multiple HTC and Motorola phones, and the soon-to-be released HTC One. U.S. tablets include the Galaxy Note 10.1, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus and Galaxy Tab 7.7.
Multiple Bluetooth headphones, including models from Klipsch and Denon, also feature the technology, as do tabletop digital media speakers include models from Samsung, House of Marley and JBL.
In late 2012, Onkyo launched a mini system and Bluetooth dongle for AVRs with AptX.
At CES, Sony, Klipsch and Polk launched wireless digital media speakers with Bluetooth and AptX.
