Qualcomm’s HD Voice De-mystified

Mobile phone users, whether they want to admit it or not, are becoming more reliant on texting and emailing than making a typical voice call—and rightfully so. While there have been major advances in the areas of text recognition (i.e., dictation, visual voicemail, ) and email integration (i.e., POP3, OMAP, Exchange), the same can’t really be said about quality of voice calls. Well, that’s about to change. The vision of “HD Voice” is fast becoming a reality, with Sprint’s recent announcement of its Network Vision infrastructure and mobile devices such as the HTC Evo™ 4G LTE having software and hardware built in to support it. HD Voice, with the help of Qualcomm technologies, is a compelling response to a renewed emphasis on voice quality by implementing numerous technologies. With HD Voice, you’re essentially expanding the spectral bandwidth of voice signals by improving the naturalness and intelligibility of sound, increasing the call frequency and call duration, and eliminating background noise to improve overall sound. It’s analogous to switching from an AM radio station to CD quality sound. There are actually many components that fall under the HD Voice umbrella, as you’ll see in the video tutorial below. Technologies like Fluence™, Active Noise Cancellation (ANC) and numerous codecs work collectively to improve the overall perception of voice quality, as well as eliminate unwanted noises. If you’re an audiophile or someone who works in a noisy environment, you’ll really appreciate what HD Voice will bring to the table. In the U.S., Sprint is planning a nationwide rollout by early 2013. If you have the HTC Evo™ 4G LTE, it’s just a matter of time before you can reap the benefits of HD Voice.