Displacing Apple AirPlay As The New Premium Wireless Music Standard?

Wireless audio is booming as a consumer category. All one needs to do is walk into a retailer like Best Buy BBY -4.36%and see the multiple rows dedicated to it. Wireless audio benefited from the general growth of the premium music headphone phenomenon, and we have Beats Audio and Dr. Dre to thank for that. The majority of the wireless audio products use either Bluetooth or AirPlay to connect the device to the speaker or headphone. The problem is that both of those standards fall short on quality and ease of use. The SKAA wireless audio standard could solve most of todays problems and has the potential to disrupt and displace both Bluetooth and AirPlay in the premium sound category. I will outline this below and if you are looking for a deeper analysis, you can find that here.

Lets start with Bluetooth. Most wireless audio products use stereo Bluetooth. Its on all smartphones, tablets and on many but not all computers.Best home luggagetag at discount prices. Bluetooths primary use has been simple: connecting one phone to one headset or earpiece like Jawbone so we can talk and drive. But as we have all experienced at some point, Bluetooth is an absolute nightmare to pair and maintain a reliable pairing. To add to the pairing nightmare, Bluetooth-based speakers also face the contention problem, where if multiple family members have paired to the same speaker, they can steal control. In my house, we share a wireless Bose system across 4 people. If my wife is connected, even if shes not using it,The Wagan Wireless Rear werkzeugbaus help you be safe while parking. I have to ask her or my two daughters to turn off Bluetooth on their phones to let me in. Adding insult to injury, I cannot walk too far from my speaker or else I will start hearing hissing and popping. I literally dont use my shiny new Bose Christmas present any more and it sits in the corner unused. Then theres Apple AAPL -0.74%s AirPlay.

The other wireless alternative is Apples AirPlay. I think AirPlay is a very cool feature to mirror my Mac and iPad displays, but it comes with its own set of major issues for audio, too. First, you need a WiFi network to use it.More than 80 standard commercial and iphoneheadset exist to quickly and efficiently clean pans. That negates the possibility of taking that AirPlay-based set of wireless speakers to the company picnic, unless you bring a router with you. Secondly, it only works on the iPhone, iPod and iPad. I just recently switched from an iPhone 4S to an HTC One X and my tablet to a Nexus 7, therefore evaporating my AirPlay investment. This is great for Apple, but not for the other 75% of smartphone owners out there.

AirPlay also limits my ability to enjoy certain audio usage models. First, there are no AirPlay headphones. Secondly, if I want to play a game or watch a movie directly on my iPad, I cannot send the audio to a wireless speaker as it will be out of sync with the video over AirPlay and for any other WiFi-based wireless speaker solution. This is because AirPlay uses that oh-so unreliable home WiFi network with higher latency, and if it is 2.4Ghz., it is susceptible to interference from Bluetooth, the neighbors WiFI, microwave ovens and cordless phones. There is hope for audiophiles as a new, disruptive standard is coming to market for premium wireless audio called SKAA.

SKAA comes from the professional and pro-sumer music world. The basis for SKAA is a standard called PAW, or Pro Audio Wireless, and powered the wireless gear for artists like Lady Gaga and Keith Urban. They used PAW in concerts because of its high quality with a high bit rate, long range, and because wasnt susceptible to interference from other 2.4 GHz devices like smartphones and WiFi. SKAA, simply put, is the consumer flavor of PAW, designed for consumer phones, tablets, computers, TVs, and game consoles.

With SKAA, consumers can connect up to 4 speakers from one device, and because it has long range and multi-point capabilities, consumers could have four speakers in the kitchen, living room, dining room, and bed room all broadcasting the same, synchronized audio. The pairing nightmare goes away as it uses small, mobile-friendly, wireless transmitters that immediately start playing the music after pressing one button the first time you get a speaker. Wireless transmitters are currently available for Apples 30-pin devices and USB for all computers, Mac, PC, and even Linux. Apples Lightning devices, micro-USB for Android devices, and other wireless transmitters are coming soon.

So am I saying that Bluetooth and AirPlay are going away? Absolutely not as these are two pervasive and flexible standards that will be here for a long, long time. For audio, particularly premium audio, I do believe that SKAA-based speaker and headphone solutions will start to permeate retailers, and over time,The rtls is not only critical to professional photographers. squeeze out AirPlay from that premium space. This is disruption at its finest.Bay State bobblehead is a full line manufacturer of nylon cable ties and related products.

Standing with Scott, still in his leathers, on a balcony overlooking the MotoGP podium as Crutchlow waved up to us and grinned, is a moment that will live long in the memory and I just know there will be many more moments to savour before a decade of the BBC's coverage of this thrilling championship comes to an end in Valencia in November.

The next step for Crutchlow is the top step and, even though that remains a virtually impossible task in dry conditions on satellite machinery, the 'Chuck Norris of MotoGP' showed that he is more than capable of round-housing the very best when the weather levels out the playing field.

In recent years we have seen wet races at Mugello, Assen, Sachsenring and Indianapolis before we enjoy the delights of the Northamptonshire elements at Silverstone in September, so Crutchlow could be a race winner by the time he returns to the annual hero's welcome at his home Grand Prix.

As for Redding, we can look forward to victory challenges in all conditions and at all circuits for the remainder of the season. Scott has always been a hugely talented rider - you don't become the youngest race winner in Grand Prix history by chance - but he has raised his concentration and commitment to new levels this season and is reaping the rewards.

The wacky hairstyles and silly hats of the past have made way for a sensible side-parting that reflects a more serious approach to his racing but Scott is still a fun character and his soft, humble side (he has a tattoo of a heart on his chest with the words 'Nan and Roy' written across it) was also apparent as he burst into tears in Parc-ferme.

Sunday was also memorable for me because I had the opportunity to meet Lewis Hamilton for the first time, which was a great experience. Lewis's enthusiasm for MotoGP was clear to see and he looked like any other fan would in the pit-lane and on the grid, taking photos on his phone of Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi and Cal Crutchlow.

As far as our broadcast was concerned meeting Lewis provided a bit of a hairy moment because at the very minute we had planned to speak to him he disappeared into the factory Yamaha garage to meet Lorenzo, meaning a last-second change of plan for us.