Microchip launches world’s first wireless audio platform for iOS, Android, Windows 8 and Mac

USA: Microchip Technology Inc. announced the first and only Wi-Fi® audio connectivity platform—featuring the new JukeBlox 3.2 platform and software development kit—to support all of the major mobile and PC operating systems along with the DLNA standard.

This includes seamless support for iOS/AirPlay, Android, Windows 8 (mobile and PC), and Mac in one solution. JukeBlox 3.2 operates on all of Microchip’s existing JukeBlox network media processors and modules, and further adds JB Cloud, which enables a compelling new consumer experience by directly streaming cloud-based music services while using mobile devices as remote controls.

This eliminates the need for mobile devices to act as servers, where they consume power and must stop the music to take phone calls or support other personal audio functions, freeing them up to be what they were intended to be—personal communication and Internet devices. Additionally, the SDK has expanded whole-home audio functionality via JB MultiZone 2.0, enabling more robust and extensive simultaneous synchronized audio streaming and control to multiple JB-enabled devices in the home.

Because Microchip’s JukeBlox Platform is the first wireless audio connectivity platform to provide compatibility with all of the major operating systems and audio-interoperability standards in a comprehensive SDK, it is the best and only complete solution for developers. This platform includes SoCs and modules for Wi-Fi networking and media processing, an application software layer for mobile devices and control interfaces, peripheral interfaces and control, and GUI options. And, it is cost effective enough to enable consumer products that retail for as low as $129.

The new JB Cloud software offers product developers and Internet music service providers a compelling new use case and architecture for enabling direct cloud music service streaming with mobile device control—all managed from the native music service app. This dramatically improves the consumer’s in-home experience, enables many more product companies to provide support for the music services, and significantly reduces the support and maintenance for both product companies and service providers, as user control is managed from the service provider’s native app.

The JukeBlox Platform’s expanded MultiZone 2.0 capability supports all the core technologies needed for compelling whole-home audio applications, including the discovery, pairing, group management, control, streaming and synchronization of any audio input source to multiple JB-enabled devices throughout the home. This high-value feature enables the next generation of interoperability between devices, and potentially across brands, helping consumers realize the full potential of their networked audio products.

“Networked audio is the future of home electronics, and JukeBlox 3.2 is enabling that future, today,” said Gene Sheridan, senior VP and GM, SMSC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Microchip. “For the first time ever, one wireless audio platform is compatible with iOS, Android and Windows, while enabling a whole-home audio experience with seamless integration of cloud-based music services.”

The JukeBlox 3.2 SDK, paired with any JukeBlox network media processor or module, is available today for sampling and volume production. Pricing starts at $12 each for Microchip’s DM870A Wi-Fi network media processor chipset, combined with the JB3.2 software, in quantities of 25,000 units per year.