Press Releases
January 7, 2008 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEURAL AUDIO AND VOICEAGE RELEASE NEW NEURAL-AMR-WB+ WITH NEURAL-THX SURROUND
New Audio Compression Solution Delivers Surround Sound at Bit Rates Lower
than 72kbps, Enabling a Wide Range of New Mobile Entertainment Applications
Kirkland, WA and Montreal, Canada, January 07, 2008 - Neural Audio Corporation, a
market leader in developing advanced audio and surround sound technologies, and
VoiceAge Corporation, a leading developer of world-class speech and audio codecs,
announced today the release of their latest mobile audio compression solution:
Neural-AMR-WB+ upgraded with Neural-THX Surround. Capable of delivering surround
sound content at bit rates lower than 72 kbps, Neural-AMR-WB+ with Neural-THX
Surround allows next-generation mobile services and devices to deliver TV-like
high quality surround sound content at remarkably low bit rates.
With the rising popularity of mobile entertainment, mobile TV service providers
face numerous challenges to their growth and mass-market success. A major area
of concern is how to best meet the rising expectations of mobile TV consumers
for the highest possible audio quality and the ready availability of a broader
choice of specialty content in the face of wireless transmission bandwidth
capacity limitations. Satisfying this need for an enhanced listener experience
with efficient bandwidth utilization for wireless multimedia services is made
even more difficult by the tendency of matrix-style surround playback to unmask
digital audio coding artifacts. The Neural-AMR-WB+ with Neural-THX Surround
solution alleviates these concerns by enabling the encoding and compression of
surround content without perceptible artifacts into an audio stream at bit rates
lower than 72 kbps. This low bit-rate high-quality surround encoded content can
then be played back in stereo through headphones or speakers, and in full
surround sound using a Neural-THX Surround home or car entertainment system,
depending on the capabilities of the receiving system.
"Keeping in mind that consumers are increasingly asking for the best audio
quality possible on their mobile devices, and that mobile network operators face
important bandwidth constraints, VoiceAge and Neural Audio have collaborated
closely to release this innovative solution that extends home TV-like quality
surround sound audio at bit rates lower than 72 kbps to the mobile world," said
Geir R. Skaaden, Neural Audio's CEO.
"We are very excited about the sphere of potential applications that this
solution opens up with greater consistency in delivering a high-quality audio
entertainment experience using new mobile services and devices for consumers
around the world," added Laurent Amar, VoiceAge president.
Neural Audio and VoiceAge will showcase their new Neural-AMR-WB+ with Neural-THX
Surround solution at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), to be held in Las
Vegas from January 7 to 10, 2008. To schedule a demonstration to schedule of a
in home or car entertainment setup and experience the future of mobile audio
entertainment, in full surround sound, contact
mobilesolutions@neuralaudio.com.
About VoiceAge Corporation
VoiceAge® is a leading developer of digital speech and audio compression
solutions for devices that operate over wired and wireless networks, including
internet, cellular, Wi-Fi, WiMAX and convergence applications as well as
consumer electronics equipment and toys.
Our business activities focus on: speech and audio compression technology R&D,
standardization, codec and audio processing software implementations and IPR
licensing. Using designs based on our widely deployed flagship ACELP® technology
platform, VoiceAge speech and audio codec solutions deliver unsurpassed quality
experienced daily by well over two billion users worldwide.
About Neural Audio Corporation
Neural Audio, through its Neural-THX® Surround technology and unique audio
optimization technologies, has become the key enabler in the delivery of high
quality content for the TV, radio, game, Internet, home theatre and mobile
markets. Key broadcast partners and customers such as XM Satellite Radio, Yamaha
Corporation, Sony Corporation, Pioneer Electronics, Onkyo Corporation, Denon
Electronics, Marantz America, Inkel, Sherwood and Harris Corporation have
adopted Neural Audio's technologies to provide the best quality audio available
today to their customers. For more information, please visit
www.neuralaudio.com, or
www.neuralsurround.com.
Neural Surround is a trademark owned by Neural Audio Corporation, THX is a
trademark of THX Ltd., which may be registered in some jurisdictions. All rights
reserved.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Jackie Broo
Communications Manager, Neural Audio Corporation
Email: jackie@neuralaudio.com
Office: +1-425.814.3200, ext. 116
Mobile: +1-513-304-9514
Dakx Turcotte
Director, Marketing and Business Development - Neural Audio Corporation
Email: dakx@neuralaudio.com
Office: +1-425-522-0635
Mobile: +1-206-499-5855
Baris Demir,
Director of Marketing, VoiceAge Corporation
Office: +1-514-737-4940, ext: 233
Email: baris.demir@voiceage.com