ESS
Latest
ASUS' ROG Phone 5 focuses on audio quality for mobile gamers
The ASUS ROG Phone 5 has redesigned innards for better heat dissipation, weight distribution and audio performance. There's also a Pro model plus a limited edition ROG Phone 5 Ultimate, with the latter boasting a whopping 18GB of RAM.
LG's V20 will sound great... with wired headphones
Some portions of the technology industry would like you to think that smartphones without headphone jacks are the future. LG feels differently, and has teamed up with high-end audio firm ESS to bake in a 32-bit HiFi Quad Digital-To-Analog converter into the forthcoming V20. Unlike standard DACs, this model is promised to cut ambient noise in half and make your tunes sound as if you're listening on some high-end separates. The bit that's worth noting, however, is that this new-fangled audio prowess will only work if you're rocking a set of cabled headphones.
Comet lander Philae says goodbye as communications are cut
Farewell Philae, it was a short but wild ride. In February, mission controllers said goodbye to the comet lander, but kept comms open with mother ship Rosetta on the slight chance it might wake up. "It's cold & dark on #67P ... but I won't give up just yet," Philae tweeted hopefully. However, controllers elected to cut Rosetta's "ESS" lander radio at 5AM ET today to preserve its precious remaining power.
Neil Young's music player for audiophiles reaches Kickstarter on March 15th
We now know how Neil Young plans to make his dreams of high-quality digital music come true: crowdfunding. The artist's company PonoMusic is launching a Kickstarter campaign on March 15th that will let you reserve the PonoPlayer, Young's long-teased, audiophile-grade portable jukebox. The 128GB device will set you back a whopping $399 when it goes on sale (less with the Kickstarter discount), but its creators are promising audio fidelity worthy of the price tag. The hardware will offer natural-sounding digital filtering from Ayre Acoustics, ESS' most advanced digital-to-analog converter and "perfectly flat" frequency response with most any set of headphones. As you might expect, there will be a matching online store that delivers high-resolution tunes. The PonoMusic team hasn't said just when its media player will reach your pocket, but it shouldn't be too long before you're listening to a pristine version of Harvest while on the move.
Vivo X3 smartphone stuffs air gestures and high-end audio into a 5.75mm-thick shell (video)
Did you think Huawei's Ascend P6 was a slim smartphone? It has nothing on BBK's just-unveiled Vivo X3. Despite a 5-inch (if 720p) screen, an 8-megapixel rear camera, a front 5-megapixel shooter and a 1.5GHz quad-core MediaTek processor, the X3 measures a wafer-like 5.75mm thick in its blue variant. There's plenty of party tricks under the hood, too -- the Android 4.2 device has both an infrared sensor for touch-free gestures and a dedicated audio chip from ESS. It also preserves much of the better hardware from its slower and thicker X1S cousin, including the 16GB of non-expandable storage and the 2,000mAh battery. The Vivo X3 ships to China on September 1st for the same ¥2,498 ($408) as the X1S. If the device proves tempting, you can check out the Engadget Chinese hands-on; their English-language video is available after the break.
