APPLE’S next wireless earbuds could come with a high-tech feature that makes it easier to listen to friends and family.
According to AppleInsider, a patent recently filed by the Cupertino tech titan details a potential new feature to help the wireless earbuds distinguish between loved ones and strangers.
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It would be available alongside the gadgets’ Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) mode, which uses microphones and speakers to tune out sounds in your surroundings.
The current AirPods Pro allow users to switch between ANC and Transparency Mode, which uses those same microphones to amplify background noise.
The plans for the addition of a third mode were filed to the US Patent and Trademark Office last week.
Apple says the “Interrupt for Noise-Cancelling Audio Devices” mode would allow users to set a keyword or the voice of a contact to trigger ANC to drop out.
It would allow your partner or whoever speaks a special codeword to break through noise cancellation settings if they need your attention.
“Noise-cancelling features of audio devices prevent the user from hearing undesirable external noise,” Apple writes in its patent.
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“However, they can also prevent the wearer from hearing external sounds that the wearer may desire to hear.
“For example, the user may desire to be interrupted by one or more pre-designated contacts that are identified at an associated electronic device as interrupt-authorised contacts, or by a person who speaks a designated keyword to the user.”
Ultimately, the idea is that your AirPods would shut off ANC to allow you to listen to someone you’ve decided is allowed to interrupt you.
The patent also details how the AirPods and companion iPhone could work together to handle the processing of people’s voices.
It would avoid false positives – such as a contact calling to someone else in the same house – by taking into account “volume information or time-of-arrival difference information as gathered by the headphones.”
It’s possible the technology will be loaded into the next iteration of the AirPods Pro, which are rumoured for release later this year.
A patent doesn’t guarantee that a technology will be developed, however, so don’t get too excited.
The first AirPods hit shelves in 2016 and were widely mocked for their unusual design, which features stems that protrude downwards from the ears.
They were introduced alongside the iPhone 7 to sidestep the decision to remove the headphone jack from those models – a move that did not sit well with fans.
Since then, the AirPods have gone from strength to strength, today raking in more cash than the respective revenues of Spotify, Twitter and Snap.
Apple has released four iterations so far and is said to be working on a new version of the high-end AirPods Pro for release in 2022.
They’re reportedly in for a design revamp, with Apple said to be removing the iconic stems for a look akin to buds offered by rivals Samsung and Sony.
I thought I was taking ibuprofen but I accidentally swallowed my AirPod – I had to poo it out
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
