Hamilton, New Zealand, May 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Losing your valuable headphones, earbuds, or portable speaker is irritating and costly, but the massive global network of Apple devices may hold the key to finding these again. SoundTrack™ – a new software solution by wireless and audio specialists Virscient – allows manufacturers of high-quality audio devices to give their customers peace of mind by offering user-friendly lost device location tracking via Apple’s Find My network and the Apple Find My app.
New Zealand-based Virscient has developed an approved reference implementation of Apple Find My network support especially designed for use in headsets, headphones, earbuds, and other portable audio devices. This licensable software component simplifies the path for product OEMs and ODMs to add Apple Find My network support to their existing or new products, including full support for lost device discovery and tracking, seamless user pairing, over-the-air firmware updates, and unwanted tracking prevention.
The Apple Find My network — made up of over a billion Apple devices — provides an easy, secure way to locate compatible personal items using the Find My app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, or using the Find Items app on Apple Watch. Find My requires iOS 14.5, iPad OS 14.5, Mac OS Big Sur 11.1, and watchOS 8.0 or later. The Find My network accessory program enables third-party companies to build finding capabilities into their products, letting users access Apple’s Find My app to locate and keep track of important items, even when they’re not nearby. The Find My network is anonymous and uses advanced encryption, meaning that no one else – not even Apple, Virscient, or partner audio accessory manufacturers – can view the location of your items.
Virscient has collaborated with communications semiconductor specialist Qualcomm to ensure launch support for SoundTrack on Qualcomm’s range of market leading QCC51xx and QCC30xx Bluetooth audio SoCs, including QCC5171, QCC5181, QCC3081, QCC3083, QCC3084, QCC3091, QCC3095, and forthcoming products. SoundTrack integrates rapidly into new or existing products as a software add-on, seamlessly combining with Qualcomm’s Audio Development Kit (ADK) reference applications.
Commenting on the launch, Dr. Dean Armstrong, CTO of Virscient says: “Apple’s Find My network is a fantastic technology that provides an incredibly practical and valuable service for its users – the ability to locate lost accessories quickly and easily. Through SoundTrack, Virscient is enabling OEMs and ODMs to bring this exciting feature to their audio products with minimum complexity and fastest time-to-market. We see strong end-user demand for this feature and are very excited to partner with Qualcomm to make this real for their customers, today.”
SoundTrack is available to evaluate and license today directly from Virscient, with optional wrap-around services available in support of integration, product hardware and software development, and design and implementation of other value-add features.
For more information on SoundTrack or Virscient’s other connected audio products and services, contact Mr. Jonny McClintock – Virscient’s Director of the Connected Audio Centre of Excellence.
Email: [email protected]
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About Virscient
Virscient push the boundaries of technology innovation for embedded systems and wireless connectivity in challenging environments, including automotive, professional audio, and marine.
With five locations around the world, Virscient works with the world’s leading semiconductor and product companies, who choose them because of their deep expertise in wireless and Internet of Things technologies. In every strategic engineering project, they develop secure embedded software for connected systems, designing hardware from silicon to PCB/product-level, and supporting all other aspects of the connectivity journey from technology selection through to product RF and interoperability certification.
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