Some headphones can make a tight fit around (or in) your ears to help block out environmental sounds. But even better are headphones that use active noise cancelling technology to sample the sounds around you and adjust the audio to filter it out.
That can let you hear more clearly on a plane, train, or other noisy environment without cranking up the volume to levels that might damage your eardrums.
But good noise cancelling headphones can be pretty expensive. So I’m hopeful that Qualcomm’s promise that its new solution “reduces the complexity and cost of adding active noise cancelling to headphones” is true.
Here’s the deal: Qualcomm has built active noise cancelling technology into the new CSR8675 Bluetooth system-on-a-chip platform.
When headphone or earbud makers choose to use that chip for their wireless headphones, they don’t need to add a separate chip to get noise cancellation features.
According to Qualcomm’s press release announcing the new solution, Fujikon Industrial Co has added the solution to its Bluetooth headphones, which offer 12 hours of battery life and noise cancellation of up to -23db.