Audience Redefines the Voice Experience of Feature Phones

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Feature phone users can now enjoy the same voice quality as high end smartphones, thanks to new technology introduced today by Audience®, the leader in intelligent voice and audio processing solutions for mobile devices.

(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120227/LA59699)

The earSmart™ eS110 is the first single-microphone Advanced Voice processor, for feature phones, to enable clear voice calls by suppressing some of the most challenging "non-stationary" noise sources, like a busy street or a crowded bar. The earSmart eS110 processor also enables devices to be used in both handset and speakerphone mode, while still delivering crisp, clean calls.

Based on the science of human hearing, earSmart eS110 Advanced Voice processors instinctively distinguish and process sound, enhancing voice and filtering out noise, from both ends of your call.

"Although smartphones get most of the press, they still comprise less than a third of worldwide cell-phone shipments," said Linley Gwennap, principal analyst of The Linley Group. "The eS110 addresses the other two-thirds of the market, bringing an improved audio experience to phones even when manufacturing cost must be kept to a minimum."

"Advanced voice processing is perhaps the most impactful technology a device manufacturer can add to a low cost feature phone to improve the quality of voice calls," said Peter Santos, president and chief executive officer of Audience. "The eS110 is a remarkable achievement in this regard, delivering the ability to have clear conversations, in almost every environment, on a wider range of mobile devices."

Designed for feature phones and entry-level smartphones on Narrowband networks, the earSmart eS110 features a high performance, low-power Audio DSP core that enables:

• Stationary and non-stationary noise suppression - from both ends of a mobile call and in both handset and speakerphone mode;
• HiFi Voice – a wideband HD voice listening experience for mobile users connected to 2G and 3G mobile Narrowband networks;
• Acoustic Echo Cancellation – eliminates echoes and enables full-duplex conversations while in speakerphone mode
• Ease of Integration – the earSmart eS110 voice processor is offered in a compact 3.5mm x 3.5mm, BGA package that easily fits any handset design and allows device manufacturers to design once and use across multiple single microphone devices.

The earSmart eS110 will sample to device manufacturers in March and is expected to appear in mobile devices by the end of the year. For more information on earSmart Advanced Voice processors from Audience, please go www.earSmart.com

About Audience 

Audience is the global leader in the emerging field of advanced voice technology for mobile devices.  Its family of earSmart™ intelligent voice processors models the processes of human hearing, to suppress background noise and enhance mobile call quality. Audience's award-winning technology fundamentally redefines the mobile voice experience, while improving the performance of speech-based services, and enhancing audio quality for multimedia.  Audience earSmart™ processors are featured in mobile devices from leading providers in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the U.S. The company is based in Mountain View, California. For more information, see www.audience.com.

SOURCE Audience, Inc.