Wolfson`s innovative ultra low power audio hub selected for Samsung`s latest Bada and Android smartphones

June 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

EDINBURGH, Scotland–(Business Wire)–
Wolfson Microelectronics plc has announced that its innovative ultra low power
audio hub solution, the WM8994, has been selected by Samsung for inclusion in
its breakthrough new smartphones, Wave and Galaxy S.

Samsung`s much anticipated Wave and Galaxy S smartphones both feature the
WM8994, which is part of Wolfson`s successful portfolio of high performance,
ultra low power audio hub solutions. The WM8994 offers market-leading audio
performance, dramatically extended playback time, exceptional voice call quality
and support of multiple consumer use cases in smartphones and other feature-rich
portable multimedia devices.

By managing, converting and processing the full array of diverse audio sources,
including voice, speaker, microphone, music and headphone signals, the WM8994 is
able to transform the capability and performance of portable multimedia devices
and enable multiple new audio use cases.

Duncan Macadie, Wolfson`s Product Line Manager for Audio Hub Solutions, said:
“Wolfson is committed to delivering high definition audio solutions for the
consumer electronics market, and these latest design wins with Samsung`s high
profile Wave and Galaxy S smartphones is testament to the strength of Wolfson`s
technology, expertise and support capabilities.

“With devices such as the WM8994, and our wider portfolio of highly integrated
ultra low power audio solutions, Wolfson is helping to redefine smartphone
architecture.”

The Wave is packed with advanced features including a Bada mobile platform,
TouchWiz 3.0 user interface, 1GHz processor, 2GB of internal memory and a music
and HD video player and Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity.

The Android-powered Galaxy S features 16GB of internal memory, a vibrant 4″
Super AMOLED touchscreen and a 5 megapixel camera which shoots both HD
photographs and video.

About Wolfson Microelectronics

Wolfson Microelectronics is a global leader in the supply of high performance,
mixed-signal semiconductor solutions to the consumer electronics market. In the
home, in the office and on the move, Wolfson`s innovative technology can be
found at the heart of many of the world`s leading digital consumer goods,
including premier hi-fi equipment, mobile phones, MP3 players, flat panel TVs,
digital still cameras and portable navigation devices.

The company`s headquarters is located in Edinburgh, UK. Wolfson`s customers are
located worldwide, and so is Wolfson, with design centres, sales offices,
applications teams and engineering expertise across Europe, the US and Asia.

Wolfson Microelectronics plc is listed on the London stock exchange (LSE:
WLF.L).

For more information about Wolfson Microelectronics, please visit:

http://www.wolfsonmicro.com

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available:

http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6325587〈=en

EML
Chris King, +44 (0) 20 8408 8000
chrisk@eml.com
or
Wolfson Microelectronics plc
Derek Milne, +44 (0) 131 272 7059
derek.milne@wolfsonmicro.com

Copyright Business Wire 2010

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Lightning-struck girl saved by her iPod

June 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Jun 19 (ANI): A teenage girl, who was sheltering from a storm beneath a tree, survived a devastating lightning strike after her iPod, which was round her neck, diverted the 300,000-volt surge that hit her.

Sophie Frost, 14, received just minor burns and singed hair as the bolt zipped through the headphone wire hanging from her school uniform, scorching her clothes but missing all her vital organs.

She was rushed to a specialist burns unit, where doctors said that they were confident she would make a full recovery, and that too without even a scar.

“I don’t remember a thing about what happened, but from what everyone tells me it’s a miracle I’m still here,” the Sun quoted Sophie as saying on June 18.

“Everybody’s said the iPod must have diverted the lightning away from my body, which probably saved my life. I’ve got a few burns, but it’s all healing OK,” she said.

Sophie, of Southend, Essex, was holding hands with boyfriend Mason Billington, 14, when the lightning struck them in Rayleigh.

Both were knocked unconscious and Mason suffered eye damage, although it is hoped this will not be permanent.

“I just thank God my daughter is still alive,” Sophie’s mum Julie said.

“The doctors say her iPod saved her. Her nan only bought it a few days ago. Luckily, she wasn’t actually wearing the headphones. If she had been, she might not be here today.

“Mind you, the only thing Sophie seemed worried about was that her new iPod was frazzled,” she added. (ANI)

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‘Audio book recorder’ made in Nagpur

May 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Nagpur, May 20 (ANI): A unique device called ‘Audio book recorder’ is made in Nagpur for blind students to help them in their studies.

This exceptional audio device was prepared six months back. It is the brainchild of Shirish Darvaheker, who after months of research and study came up with this concept.

According to him, blind students usually study from Braille books, which are available only till 10th and 12th standard. As they carry on with further education, they face problems. The size and the number of books in higher standards are more.

The ‘Audio Book Recorder’ provides best alternative solution to them, so that they can study further, without encountering any problems.

“The speciality of the device is that data is stored in a memory card. In the 2 GB memory card, 60 hours of audio duration, which contains recorded books, can be stored. The device has a voice menu that helps blind students to know what button they are pressing. Also, buttons are embossed so that they can locate them easily on the device,” said Darvaheker.

Blind students said that they find difficult to learn subjects from the complicated sets of CDs and cassettes.

“Audio Book reader is a great help to us. Earlier we used to study from the tape recorders, we faced lot of trouble as cassettes would break down in between and recorders would stop working. Also, another problem was of power cuts. All this would force us to leave the study in between and our lot of time was wasted in all this,” said Sandeep, a blind student.

The device provides battery support of eight hours compared to other equipments. Also, there is a facility of book marking in the device. A single person can listen to the device with the help of headphone and more people can hear with the speakers.

‘Audio Book Recorder’ is a handy and compact device; students can carry it in their pockets, as it weighs around 175 grams only. By Sunil Kumar (ANI)

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Phones With Dual SIM Holdings Banned In India

March 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Phones With Dual SIM Holdings Banned In India On a plea registered by electronics engineer Somasundaram Ramkumar, Madras High Court has banned mobile phone makers including Samsung, Mirc Electronics and Spice Mobile and various retailers such as Ebay India and Rediff.com from making or selling cell phones having multiple SIM holding.

Mr. Ramkumar, who claims to hold patented rights over the technology used to create such handsets, had accused few handset manufacturers and retailers of breaching his patent for multiple SIM handsets.

The 36-year-old electronics engineer holds Indian patent (No.214388) for plurality of SIM cards in a single mobile phone in addition to plurality of bluetooth devices in headphone and earphone jacks.

On the basis of the plea filed, Ramkumar’s lawyer D Ferdinand said, “Justice Jaypaul has issued an injunction whereby Samsung Electronics, Mirc Electronics and Spice Mobile were restrained from manufacturing multiple SIM holding mobile phones.”

The case will be heard on April 13, 2009.

In view of the Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Enforcement Rules 2007 to defend the petitioner’s legal rights, Chennai custom’s functionaries in different cities have already detained import consignments of mobile phones with multiple SIM cards.

On hearing the development, Ramkumar said, “This is my first step in establishing my right as a patent holder.”

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Nokia To Give Away ‘Music Tickets’ To First Buyers!

January 20, 2009 By 1 Comment

Nokia To Give Away ‘Music Tickets’ To First Buyers! Now, Nokia has adopted another way to woo its users.

This time, the Finnish mobile phone giant has announced a scheme that first 100 people to buy its much-awaited Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone will get tickets to the Benicassim music festival in Spain.

Nokia 5800, otherwise known as the Tube, goes on sale this Friday at the company’s flagship Regent Street store at 8am.

Moreover, the first 200 customers will get a 5800 packed with added material, which includes short movies from Futureshorts, and applications such as Touch Piano, Touch Guitar, Sports Tracker and Guitar Rock Tour.

And also, the launch will see George Sampson, winner of Britain’s Got Talent, performing live on a touch interactive musical dance floor.

The handset is available from 10am at the Heathrow Terminal 5 store. From 30 January, channels will open up to Vodafone, O2, Orange, T-Mobile UK, Virgin Mobile, Carphone Warehouse and Phones 4U.

Nokia 5800 Xpress Music, which is the first touch screen phone of Symbian S60 from Nokia, comes with a full-screen QWERTY keyboard, a 3.5mm headphone jack and 8GB of built-in space, a drop-down menu providing direct access to the phone’s countless music and entertainment features.

The Nokia 5800 XpressMusic phone, which can play back full screen video at 30fps, features a stylus for easy navigation. It also has a stellar 3.2in wide screen touch display, which is laced with a resolution of 640×360.

Other features of the phone includes a graphic equalizer and support for all the major digital formats, HSDPA at 3.6Mbps, built-in 802.11b/g WiFi, an aGPS receiver, Bluetooth 2.0 with A2DP, an accelerometer and a 3.2Megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, auto focus, a dual LED flash, and 8GB of memory in the form of a microSD card.

The more-exciting feature of the phone is its ‘Y-Browser’ permitting users to access all folders and drives, and they can also copy, edit, move or delete the folder and can even create and unpack the folder.

Nokia has released a handful of free applications and games for the Nokia 5800 XpressMusic device.

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