Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks Apple will release an Apple-branded over-the-ear headphone in the first half of 2020. A newly filed patent (number 10,555,066) for “detection of headphone rotation” hints at such a device (or perhaps merely new Beats headphones).
Kuo thinks Apple is working on noise-canceling, over-ear headphones “that rival headsets from market leaders like Bose and even the company’s own Beats by Dre brand.” As I’ve said before, I don’t see the logic in having Apple-branded AND Beats-branded over-the-ear headphones since Apple owns Beats. Will the company simply abandon the Beats trademark/logo and puts its own brand on all the audio products? Makes sense to me
In the new patent filing, Apple notes that eadphones may be used to transport an audio signal from a source device (e.g., a mobile device, an MP3 player, etc.) to a user’s ears. In some instances, characteristics of the audio signal may be controlled, such as turning the audio signal on or off, pausing the audio signal, changing the audio signal (e.g., switching from one song to another song), rewinding the audio signal, fast forwarding the audio signal, adjusting volume of the audio signal, adjusting treble of the audio signal, adjusting bass of the audio signal, and/or the like.
This control may typically be performed at the source device by the user using one or more input elements, such as buttons. In response, the audio signal may be transformed before it reaches the headphones. Apple wants control of the audio a signal to be possible by the headphones detecting how they’re being rotated.
Here’s Apple’s summary of the patent filing: “Some embodiments of the disclosure provide systems and methods of detecting headphone rotation to properly process user input to the headphones. The systems and methods described herein may be used, for example, to detect a gesture (e.g., a swipe) received as user input on a touch interface of the headphones, such as a touch interface integrated into an ear piece.
“The gesture may be made in a particular direction, such as down toward Earth. However, headphones may be worn in a plurality of configurations, such as upright with the headband around the top of the head, downward with the headband around the back of the neck, or anywhere in between. Thus, the systems and methods described herein may be used to determine the rotation of the headphones in order to properly ascertain the intended gesture and perform an intended result.”
