Dolby Digital sound coming to smart phones

Joseph George

Published Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Smart phone users could soon be listening to Dolby Digital music, thanks to the Dolby Digital Plus Technology.

According to the company, more than 70 different handsets are going to incorporate the feature – that was first introduced in mega screen production more than two decades ago - into their phones very soon.

ZTE, which launched its Grand Memo on Monday, said the model will the first to incorporate the feature when it is launched during the next few months.

Interacting with the media on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress, John Couling, Senior Vice President, E-Media, Dolby Laboratories, said the incorporation of the technology into mobile phones was indeed a path breaking initiative.

“These days, mobile phones are used not just to make calls but watch movies as well, especially as the screen size of phones keep increasing.

Lenovo, which announced its budget tablets A1000, A3000 and S6000 on Tuesday, said it too would incorporate the Dolby feature into the three models.

The tablets, running on Android 4.1 version, will be launched in the second quarter of 2013.

Lenovo A1000 is an entry-level tablet that comes with 7-inch display with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels. The tablet is powered by a 1.2GHz dual-core MediaTek processor and packs 16GB internal storage which is expandable up to 32GB via a micro SD slot. It also features front-facing speakers with Dolby Digital Plus sound.

Lenovo A3000 sports a 7-inch display with 1024x600 pixel resolution and comes with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor. It measures 11mm in thickness and weighs 340gms. The tablet comes in Wi-Fi and 3G+Wi-Fi models. Unlike the A1000, this tablet does not support Dolby Digital Plus sound.

The S6000 boasts a 10.1-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280 X 800 pixels and is powered by an MTK 8389/8125 1.2 GHz quad-core processor. It measures 8.6mm in thickness and weighs 560gms.

2013 will see many new phones crossing the 5.7 inch screen size, entering the phablet mode and the feature will be a great addition to the tablet segment.

Samsung has already said that its next phones will have a bigger screen compared to the S3. LG, Asus, Sony, are expected to follow a similar path.

Meanwhile, Qualcomm, in partnership with Dolby, will incorporate the feature into its chipsets so that phone manufacturers do not go through the hassle of implementing it later.

Raj Talluri, senior vice president of Qualcomm product management, said the Snapdragon 800 chipset is powerful enough to facilitate this and will also ensure lower battery consumption.

Quoting recent research, it said about 70 to 80 per cent of smart phone and tablet owners consider audio quality a priority when they select their phones.

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