14 DAY TRIAL // SRS Labs, provider of surround sound, audio and voice technologies, announced that it has licensed its SRS WOW HD audio enhancement technology to Pantech. With the IM-U130 CDMA phone, currently available on the SK Telecom network in Korea, Pantech has become the first customer to integrate SRS Labs' next-generation 3D stereo enhancement technology in a handset.
The IM-U130 handset is designed as a music jukebox, focusing on MP3 music playback. SRS WOW HD adds to the handset 3D stereo, improved low frequency bass performance and enhanced high frequency sound clarity, especially on the micro speaker and earphones. SRS WOW HD improves stereo rendering to provide dynamic performance from mono and stereo sources, sculpts bass response for maximum thump, widens the audio field for more natural sound and restores audio clarity lost in the mixing process.
Pantech enabled the SRS WOW HD feature on a Qualcomm-based CDMA phone with the help of one of SRS Labs' platform partners, Korean-based Telechips, who markets SRS WOW HD on their multimedia applications processor, the TTC772. The new license with Pantech extends SRS Labs' success in the wireless market that includes CDMA and non-CDMA phones from NEC, Samsung, Sharp and others.
"We recognized the need for high quality audio in CDMA handsets," said Steven Kim, regional sales director of SRS Labs. "The rapid transition of mobile phones from being purely communication devices to mobile entertainment devices has motivated leading handset makers worldwide, such as Pantech, to license our SRS WOW HD technology to provide incredible audio performance for music and video applications on the handsets. This enables wireless subscribers to take full advantage of multimedia services and handset features including ring tones, digital music and streaming video."