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NEWS

New Bluetooth competitor claims better audio at 1/10th the power

From "Kleer 'Cuts Loose' With Disruptive Wireless Technology For Universal Stereo Audio Applications," Kleer press release, 4 December:

"Kleer today announced the launch of its Kleer Audio LP line of RF wireless modules - the industry's first such offering to combine high quality audio and robust ISM band coexistence with low power consumption to address the full range of audio market segments.

"Unlike Bluetooth, Kleer's patented subsampling radio architecture was designed from the ground up to communicate lossless CD-quality digital stereo audio over a robust 2.4GHz radio link, while achieving 10 times the battery life of a comparable Bluetooth solution...

"Bluetooth offerings suffer from poor audio quality due to the use of lossy audio compression, poor ISM band coexistence performance in high interference environments, and high power consumption when carrying streaming audio. In contrast, Kleer's Audio LP modules offer the following advantages over Bluetooth:

• "Lossless transmission of 16-bit, 44.1KHz-sampled stereo audio to deliver full CD-quality audio. Lossless transmission also enables the 'beaming' of music or other data files from one player to another.
• "10 times the battery life of a comparable Bluetooth solution. This enables OEMs to integrate wireless technology into portable audio players without suffering a large penalty in battery life. And OEMs can introduce new small form factor products such as wireless earphones knowing that small batteries will still give them acceptable battery life.
• "Best-in-class ISM band co-existence by dynamically selecting one out of 16 narrowband channels, each of which can fit in the gaps between wireless LAN channels, and ensuring that only unoccupied channels are selected.
• "Kleer's Listen In® technology that enables users to share the listening experience by having multiple wireless earphones, headphones or speakers listening simultaneously to the same audio source...

"Pricing and Availability

"The KLR3012 module is available for sampling today. Volume production begins in the first quarter of 2007. Contact Kleer for pricing and to order evaluation kits and samples..."
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From Kleer's webpage describing their technology:

"...High Audio Quality - Kleer's 2.37MB/s peak bit rate is able to carry full CD-quality stereo audio without resorting to lossy compression techniques that degrade the audio. See our whitepaper 'Wireless Digital Audio Quality For Portable Audio Applications'.

"Robust ISM Band Coexistence - Kleer has unprecedented immunity to interference in the increasingly crowded 2.4GHz ISM band. The 2.37Mb/s peak data rate provides plenty of bandwidth for the retransmission of corrupted data. And the availability of 16 channels in the 2.4GHz band along with extremely fast channel switching means we can adapt to interference conditions before there is an audible effect. See our whitepaper 'ISM Band Coexistence'...

"Low Latency - Kleer's highly effective ISM band coexistence and use of lossless compression minimizes the required amount of audio buffering, enabling Kleer-based solutions to address latency sensitive applications such as televisions and portable DVD players.

"Interoperability - Products based on Kleer's technology are fully interoperable. This enables the same set of earphones or headphones to be used in portable, home and automotive applications. Similarly, the same portable digital audio player can drive earphones, wireless headphones or wireless speakers..."

[2.4GHz - 10 December 2006]