Sonaptic, the leading developer of advanced 3D audio technologies for handheld devices, announced the completion of its JSR-234 Audio Engine; developing a new standard with Nokia and Ericsson to deliver 3D audio on cell phones using Java.

Using Sonaptic's 3D Positional Audio technology, an application has realtime control of multiple sound channels positioned and moving dynamically around the user, providing an immersive, 3-dimensional sound environment (as opposed to the stereo expansion features typically found on low-end consumer devices).

This allows for amazing games effects and extends the game play area outside of the relatively small screen size of the mobile device. Sonaptic's technology works equally well on both stereo headsets and on stereo microspeakers built into the device. Sonaptic's technology is portable and has been especially crafted for the low-power, low-resource requirements of the mobile device environment. It is ideally suited for use on mobile phones, personal video and music players, PDAs and gaming platforms.

Allowing game developers and studios to take advantage of 3D sound technology for a fully immersive experience, the JSR-234 standard lets games or other content to easily support the full range of Java-enabled mobile devices without forcing the developer to program for a specific model or chipset.

The JSR-234 enables mobile devices to access a full range of multimedia technologies through a standardized Java API, including camera, tuner, image manipulation, and the 3D positional audio and music capabilities as delivered by Sonaptic's advanced technology.

Handset vendors supporting JSR-234 as part of the initial Expert Group include Ericsson Mobile Platforms, Motorola, Nokia Corporation, Sharp Labs of America, and Siemens AG.

There are already an estimated 600 million Java-enabled mobile devices currently deployed worldwide, and it is expected that JSR-234 will also form an important part of the Mobile Service Architecture (MSA) in providing a common platform for developers of Mobile Java applications under J2ME for many years to come.

"We are very privileged to have participated in the development of the audio portions of this breakthrough API alongside mobile industry leaders Nokia and Ericsson," said David Monteith, Sonaptic's Managing Director and co-founder.

"Our history in the development of 3D audio technologies for the mobile industry and the deep background of our team in the game console and PC sound card industries brought a wealth of expertise to the development process. We will continue to work with the Expert Group members to develop JSR-234 into a strong platform for developers of advanced 3D games and other applications as well as continuing to enhance our 3D Audio Engine to take full advantage of revisions and new capabilities of the standard."

Currently shipping in mobile phones from NEC, Fujitsu and Mitsubishi, a still to be announced fourth vendor will soon be carrying the JSR-234 Audio Engine.

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