←back to thread

1798 points jerryX | 4 comments | | HN request time: 0.008s | source
Show context
paul7986 ◴[] No.18567672[source]
I met/had a similar experience with Google ATAP in 2013 (was Motorala ATAP then; Google recently bought them) though not for a job interview but to discuss working together to build our tech SpeakerBlast into the Moto X.

They asked if we ever thought about selling our technology to them before the meeting and at the meeting they baited us for how our tech worked saying we'd like to work with you tell us how it works. Once we did they left the room (Dugan's 2nd right hand man at the time and another) & 3 minutes later showed us the door saying the "race is on."

They have since been awarded patents for audio syncing across phones.

Many here will say that's just how Silicon Valley works.... takes advantage and stomps on the little guy innovators & their dreams. That's not professional and I met with many other companies like Samsung who acted with the utmost respect & professionalism towards us. Yet, Google whose motto is "Don't Be Evil," can't act in the same fashion?

replies(22): >>18567759 #>>18567975 #>>18568259 #>>18568323 #>>18568762 #>>18568888 #>>18568980 #>>18569170 #>>18569197 #>>18569647 #>>18570201 #>>18570277 #>>18570302 #>>18570546 #>>18570780 #>>18571149 #>>18571876 #>>18571968 #>>18572558 #>>18573347 #>>18576651 #>>18577358 #
nathan_f77 ◴[] No.18569170[source]
Wow that's crazy. I didn't know they did stuff like that.

Also I didn't know Google had patents for syncing audio across phones. I wonder if any of the mobile apps (like AmpMe [1]) have to pay some license fees.

I once spent an evening researching the different apps that could sync audio across multiple devices [2]. I also wanted to build my own app, so tried to see if it would be possible (only if you have a jailbroken phone.) I just wanted to play the same audio on two pairs of AirPods. I found out that the Samsung Galaxy S9 has a Dual Audio feature, and the iPhone X can theoretically support this with Bluetooth 5.0. And the AmpMe app can sync audio across multiple phones. (I was also really surprised to find out that they're a pretty huge company with 20 full time employees.)

[1] https://www.ampme.com

[2] https://www.evernote.com/l/ACo7ItT-pItKkZoYf0YJy0raGhN5255FR...

replies(3): >>18569423 #>>18569710 #>>18569728 #
1. paul7986 ◴[] No.18569728[source]
Cool ours syncs audio on any IP device..desktop, laptop, tablets, phones, IOT devices, whatever
replies(1): >>18569901 #
2. IshKebab ◴[] No.18569901[source]
Is that not a fairly simple technology? You're basically measuring latencies (for which there exist very accurate solutions) and accounting for clock drift (again not difficult - USB audio did that many many years ago).

I guess you can get fancy if the devices have microphones but I still think it wouldn't be difficult. Like one man-year worth of work.

replies(1): >>18570139 #
3. paul7986 ◴[] No.18570139[source]
Creating a web player that syncs audio across all types of IP devices where you can play, pause, fast forward, seek within a track & more as seen in this video isn’t trivial!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJ9itwp_wYc&index=20&list=UU...

replies(1): >>18571062 #
4. starbeast ◴[] No.18571062{3}[source]
How close is that? It sounds as though there is a very slight spread, but that might be just the chosen music.