Qualcomm acquires SoftMax

Qualcomm has given an indication of its future direction by announcing that is has acquired a company that specialises in noise reduction, such as the removal of background sounds, for mobile devices.

The purchase of SoftMax will bolster Qualcomm's existing technology portfolio through the addition of multi-microphone noise suppression and echo cancellation techniques that can be integrated into a range of form factors including Bluetooth headsets ,mobile phones, notebook computers and VoIP phones.

"The acquisition of SoftMax will allow new opportunities for our customers to differentiate themselves by providing a superior level of voice quality to end users," said Dr. Sanjay K. Jha, Qualcomm's chief operating officer (COO) and president of its CDMA technologies division. "With the acquisition of SoftMax, our solutions will deliver advanced voice capabilities for handsets, Bluetooth headsets and other consumer devices."

Exact terms of the deal, including financial arrangements, have not been made public as yet.

"SoftMax has always focused on the interactions between people and technology, and our SoftMax Signal Separation platform has solved real-world problems for products such as mobile phones and Bluetooth headsets," said Dr. Te-Won Lee, president and chief technology officer (CTO), SoftMax. "As part of Qualcomm, we now have the ability to broaden our scope and enhance speech quality for consumers around the world more than ever before."

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