Samsung is developing its own Type-C lightening port to support audio for forthcoming Galaxy S8
When Samsung’s flagship product, Galaxy Note 7 started exploding non-stop around the world due to defective batteries, it compelled the world’s largest smartphone maker to announce a recall unprecedented in smartphone history.
While the faulty batteries are considered to be the reason behind the overheating and recall of 2.5 million devices, it appears that the company’s eagerness to get the better of Apple led to faults in the production of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7.
If this was not enough, Samsung is expected to follow Apple and ditch the industry-standard 3.5mm headphone port, just the way its Cupertino giant did it in its newly launched iPhone 7 devices. It is rumoured that Samsung is looking to develop a Lightning-like port of its own that would support audio.
The USB Implementers Forum published the Audio Device Class 3.0 specification that gives device makers the standard they need to pipe sound through USB-C ports on everything from smartphones to PCs. This is expected to help Samsung, and any other company, to drop the 3.5mm headphone jack in exchange of USB-C for audio in the very near future without having to think about making audio support into USB-C or a new, exclusive port.
Audio over USB-C means that consumers need to upgrade their headphones to USB-C headphones as well, but the audio gains might be worth it. Besides from offering better digital audio support (such as headphones with custom audio processing), it will also offer power-saving features and keyword detection. Also, the USB audio will offer a better sound experience while consuming less battery power and enable voice-recognition features, reports Engadget. Removing the 3.5mm audio port from a handset not only helps with waterproofing, but it also means slimmer devices.
A few months ago, Intel already explained that sound over USB-C is the future, and it’s likely that many device makers will adopt it. In addition to Apple, Motorola and LeEco have already launched smartphones that do not have dedicated headphone jacks. Now that the USB-C audio spec is finally official, it is likely that Samsung may follow suit.
At this point in time, this is all speculation as the South Korean giant hasn’t said anything about the Galaxy S8. Samsung traditionally launches new Galaxy S flagships at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) and next year’s MWC takes place in February; so, it’s already quite early.
Source: BGR
