Bluetooth Auracast to Open New Apps for ‘Many New Users’: Nordic CEO

The Bluetooth special interest group announced Tuesday completion of the full set of specifications defining LE Audio, the next generation of Bluetooth audio. LE Audio improves wireless audio performance, adds support for hearing aids and introduces Auracast broadcast audio, which allows an audio source device to broadcast one or more audio streams to an unlimited number of audio sink devices. The Bluetooth SIG said qualification for Bluetooth products to add support for LE Audio is now enabled. The first consumer products supporting LE Audio will come to market in the coming months, with product availability expected to ramp up before the holiday season. Nordic Semiconductor, which claims 40% share of new Bluetooth Low Energy design certifications, is seeing its first customers enter “volume production” with LE Audio products, said CEO Svenn-Tore Larsen Tuesday on a Q2 earnings call. The Bluetooth SIG calls LE Audio “the future of wireless sound, and we are in the position to accelerate the development of next generation wireless audio projects,” Larsen said. Nordic’s new development kit for LE Audio “uses the most advanced SoC we have” to take advantage of the new Bluetooth 6.0 spec due to be released by the end of 2022, said Larsen. Auracast "will open new applications for many new users," he said.