The biggest highlight of the current Android 12 system is that it has overhauled the previous versions. But as it usually happens, this version is not going to be an all-around perfect operating system. It seems this mission is set on the next-gen Google OS, Android 13. For instance, Android 12 laid the necessary foundation for Bluetooth Low Energy Audio. The latter is a new standard for low-power audio transmission over Bluetooth. And though Android 12 introduced the Bluetooth LE Audio API, its developers still should do a lot of work to enable full support for Bluetooth LE Audio. However, the recent commits submitted to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) show that the tech’s full support may finally come in Android 13.
Android 13 may be the first release to add full support for Bluetooth LE Audio.
Google recently merged an LC3 (the LE Audio codec) encoder and is adding the codec as an option in settings. It'll be the highest priority A2DP source codec.
Commits: https://t.co/tXicKLMZbq pic.twitter.com/ZHcd22grEs
— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) December 21, 2021
Gizchina News of the week
LE Audio
Recently, Mishaal Rahman found that Google has merged the commits that add an LC3 codec type (LE Audio) for Bluetooth A2DP within Developer options. Let’s explain it in simple terms. LC3 (Low Complexity Communications Codec) is a new high-quality, low-power audio code in Bluetooth LE Audio. It promises to bring higher-quality audio even at low data rates. But as Mishaal pointed out, it’s still doubtful whether these patches are enough to enable full support for Bluetooth LE Audio. Even if so, there is every reason to expect the codec to come through the next major release: Android 13.
LE Audio is a new standard. Due to advanced technologies, it enables audio transmission over the Bluetooth Low Energy (LE) radio. In fact, this is not new. We saw it at CES last year. Bluetooth SIG was talking about it when detailing the Bluetooth 5.2 standard. However, before Bluetooth 5.2 version, LE was only used for data transfer. Thus, it didn’t allow audio transmission. For users, the most important characteristics of LE Audio are the lower power consumption, Multi-Stream Audio support for an improved audio experience on truly wireless earphones. However, we’d also like to mention that its ability to broadcast a few audio streams to an unlimited number of audio sink devices.
About Android 13
Well, not that much is known about the Android 13 version. But we know that its internal name is Tiramisu. As you should be aware, for many years, Google has been giving dessert names to its OS. Say, Android 10 was internally called Quince Tart (sweet cake), Android 11 Red Velvet Cake, and Android 12 Snow Cone. According to one of the available documents, the developers call Android 13 Tiramisu.
