Google, earlier this week, launched the Google Pixel Buds Pro truly wireless (TWS) earbuds in India at a price of Rs 19,990. A day after, the company announced that it was bringing audio switching technology to its newly launched TWS earbuds. Also Read - Microsoft lays off employees from customer-focused R&D projects: Report
Google says that the audio switching technology is based on its Fast Pair feature that allows users to find and pair their wireless headphones or earbuds to their Android phones and tablets and then save them to their Google accounts. Once saved in Google account, the company’s Fast Pair feature enables the headphones to immediately sync with all of the users’ other Android devices easily. Also Read - Google faced a brief outage while you were sleeping, but it’s back now
Google says that the audio switching technology builds on top of Fast Pair to use contextual information on what a user is listening to in order to switch the audio based on their actions. “We have more categories that are ranked to determine how to prioritise sounds between phone calls, media and all of the sounds your devices may make,” the company wrote in a blog post. Also Read - How to change Google Assistant’s voice on your phone
So for instance, if you are watching a video on your tablet and you receive a notification on your phone, your headphone audio will not switch to your phone. However, if you receive a phone call, your headphone audio will make the switch.
While announcing the feature, Google also said that its audio switching will also work with Bluetooth multipoint enabling users to connect up to two Bluetooth devices at a time.
Audio switching technology is slightly different Bluetooth multipoint, wherein wireless headphone or TWS earbuds can connect to two sources at the same time, which eliminates the need to switch between sources completely. With its audio switching technology, Google is hoping to make the switch more intelligent by understanding which device users want to hear from.
Availability
As far as availability is concerned, Google said that it is rolling out audio switching between Android phones and tablets with Bluetooth multipoint on the new Pixel Buds Pro. The company also said that it will be rolling out audio switching technology to select Sony and JBL headphones in the coming weeks.
