Nokia and multimedia handsets. Mention one and most people will reflexively think of the other. The Finns are known for their N-series mobile phones that can take amazingly sharp and crisp pictures, shoot high-quality video, and store gobs of media. Unfortunately, Espoo’s expertise in surround sound processing is a bit lacking.
Enter Dolby Digital. Dusan and I mentioned the Dolby Digital surround sound signal processing application back at Mobile World Congress 2008 Barcelona. The technology is amazing and really makes movies and music come to life. Last we heard, Dolby was looking for manufacturing partners to load devices with Dolby’s surround sound processing app for complete and rich out-of-the-box multimedia experience.
Dolby’s strength lies in their ability to take plain, old stereo sound and give it a 3D feel and increased depth. The Symbian booth at CTIA Las Vegas 2008 was small, really small. They didn’t have much to show off, other than the Dolby Digital surround sound app.
The application installs and runs in the background when viewing movies or listening to music. When paired with a decent set of headphones, the Dolby signal processing is really amazing. Look for new Nokia N-series handsets to start offering Dolby enhancements in the near-term (according to the rep).
UPDATE
Apparently the booth rep didn’t know what he was talking about. There is no set deal for Nokia to distribute the Dolby Surround Sound application with any N-Series devices.
