Services like Siri, Cortana, and Alexa are being held back by a lack of advancements in digital microphone technology, reports Bloomberg, citing the opinions of several analysts.
While processors, camera sensors, and other vital iPhone components have evolved rapidly over the course of the last several years, the same can’t be said for microphones. Digital microphones still have trouble focusing on filtering out background noise and clearly detecting faraway voices, impacting device listening capabilities.
With artificial intelligence growing in popularity, however, Bloomberg says manufacturers are scrambling to improve microphone tech.
“No doubt, there is an arms race,” says Peter Cooney, an analyst at SAR Insight & Consulting. The big tech companies are thinking a lot more about mics than they have for the past few years. Since the 2012 launch of the iPhone 5, “microphone performance has not really improved that much,” says Marwan Boustany, an analyst with research firm IHS Markit.
Apple and other companies who rely on microphones to deliver queries to smartphones and other devices are said to want technology improvements that will make them better able to distinguish voices from other sounds at longer distances.
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by Juli Clover
Source: Siri Held Back by Lack of Advancements in Microphone Technology – Mac Rumors
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