The technology provides for a pair of earbuds. For instance, a first earbud and a second earbud may each include one or more sensors. The pair of earbuds may further include one or more processors configured to receive one or more first sensor signals from a first sensor in the first earbud and one or more second sensor signals from a second sensor in the second earbud. The one or more processors may compare the first sensor signals with the second sensor signals. Based on the comparison, the one or more processors may detect whether the first earbud and the second earbud are being worn by different users. Based on detecting that the first earbud and the second earbud are being worn by different users, the one or more processors may control the first earbud and the second earbud to use a shared mode.

An electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention may include: a housing including a first housing and a second housing; a hinge unit rotatably connected to the first housing and the second housing; a display; a first speaker disposed in the first housing; a second speaker disposed in the second housing; at least one sensor; and a memory. The memory may store instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to: receive an event related to audio data; identify a state of the electronic device on the basis of information obtained through the at least one sensor; determine at least one speaker to output the audio data, among the first speaker and the second speaker, on the basis of the state of the electronic device; and output the audio data through the at least one speaker.

At least a system or a method is provided for remote delivery or collection of a device such as an audio collection device. For example, a device comprising an aperture collection and retrieval pin is provided. An apparatus is provided having an aperture receiver, an aperture drive gear and a drive motor. The drive motor is configured to drive the aperture drive gear to open or close the aperture receiver of the apparatus for retrieving or releasing the device comprising the aperture collection pin.

Example embodiments disclosed herein relate to orientation-aware surround sound playback. A method for processing audio on an electronic device that includes a plurality of loudspeakers is disclosed, the loudspeakers arranged in more than one dimension of the electronic device. The method includes, responsive to receipt of a plurality of received audio streams, generating a rendering component associated with the plurality of received audio streams, determining an orientation dependent component of the rendering component, processing the rendering component by updating the orientation dependent component according to an orientation of the loudspeakers and dispatching the received audio streams to the plurality of loudspeakers for playback based on the processed rendering component. Corresponding system and computer program products are also disclosed.

A device includes a memory configure to store instructions and one or more processors configured to execute the instructions to obtain spatial audio data at a first audio output device. The one or more processors are further configured to perform data exchange, between the first audio output device and a second audio output device, of exchange data based on the spatial audio data. The one or more processors are also configured to generate first monaural audio output at the first audio output device based on the spatial audio data.

At least one of the present exemplary embodiments and methods introduces a unique Audio Collection System comprised of self-contained Audio Collection Devices (ACDs), Audio Distribution Devices (ADDs), and Audio Control Analysis (ACA) components/functions. The system may be used to gather audio signals from environments in ways that are not presently available with the intention being to gather audio, analyze, and learn what may be understood about a given environment or situation. One exemplary feature of this system is that it introduces a set of standardized modular components that can be scaled from a small configuration to larger systems. For example, systems that may manage large numbers of audio input streams, broadcast audio streams, modify audio streams, combine and track sounds, and present sound as immersive experience. Additional features will provide other various controls and statistical capabilities, as described herewith.

One example method of operation may include determining whether a received command will be locally processed by a control device, determining an audio stream is associated with the received command, forwarding the audio stream to a server, and forwarding an audio output to a termination device based on a processed audio stream.

A digitally controlled microphone with audio compressor includes a capsule; a compressor circuitry having a compressor engine, a digitally controlled root mean square (RMS) detector and a digitally controlled analog processor; a bypass switch to the compressor circuitry; an analog to digital converter (ADC); a digital processor that sends digital audio to a host and receives a second digital audio signal; a digital to analog converter (DAC) and a summing circuit that combine the audio with the audio from the host and send it to a digitally-controlled headphone amplifier and a headphone jack; a microphone body; a serial host interface connector; and hardware controls on the microphone body.

An audio accessory with high and low impedance paths to a speaker is provided, and a radio therefor. The audio accessory comprises: a speaker; an audio interface to connect to a respective audio interface of the radio; a switching circuit comprising: high and low impedance paths; and a switch to connect the audio interface to the speaker via one of the high and low impedance paths, the switch initially connecting the audio interface to the speaker via the high impedance path. The accessory further comprises a data interface to connect to a respective data interface of the radio; and a controller to: in response to receiving, via the first data interface, from the radio, a message to control the switch to connect the audio interface to the speaker via the low impedance path, control the switch to connect the audio interface to the speaker via the low impedance path.

Disclosed herein is a display device for more appropriately providing a surround effect. The display device may include a display configured to display a video, an audio output interface configured to output sound, a wireless communication interface configured to establish Bluetooth connection with at least one external speaker, and a controller configured to control an audio mode to a surround mode or a non-surround mode according to the video.