Kleering up Wireless Audio

Jan 8 - Cruising around the CES floor today, one of the coolest displays I ran across was an iPod Nano sending high-quality audio to a set of small wireless earbuds. The company that developed the technology, Kleer, says the earphones can run 10 hours and produce lossless CD quality audio.

In the display, the iPod Nano had a very slim adaptor attached to the back of it, which sends the audio to the earphones over a 2.4GHz radio link. Wireless earphones get rid of the obvious annoyance of wires dangling and tangling, and the Kleer technology also offers simultaneous streaming to multiple headphones and listeners. Kleer claims that its Wireless Audio LP technology is much more energy efficient than Bluetooth, and uses about one-tenth the power. This allows for longer playback per charge, and smaller battery size technology requirements.

Kleer’s Wireless Audio LP technology is available to be licensed and integrated in consumer electronics products, particularly in the portable, home and automotive audio markets. In RCA’s product demo yesterday, the company showed off its new line of portable MP3 players, and its Jet Stream model features the Kleer technology in its wireless headphones. With 12 hours of playback time, a 1.5-inch OLED screen, 1GB of storage, and FM radio, it’s a great looking portable to challenge the iPod Nano.

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