Catlin Semino / Android Authority
tl; drag
- The Google Pixel Watch 3 is the first known as Android device to support the Bluetooth channel’s sound, which enables the precise, cm surface distance to be tracking.
- This feature is much more accurate than the traditional Bluetooth signal strength to find items and acts as a wide, low -cost alternative to UWB.
- Although the clock supports the channel’s sound after its wearing OS 5.1 updates, it is not yet in use, future search hub app is likely to be prepared.
At the end of last year, the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (CIG) announced the Bluetooth 6.0, which introduces a feature called Channel Sounding, which enables real distance awareness by calculating the distance between two devices. This new capacity has interesting implications for item trackers, mostly lacking in precision search. Catch? It seemed that no Android devices in the market support Bluetooth 6.0 or channel sound. As it turns out, a device that supports channel sound: Google Pixel Watch 3.
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Most Bluetooth devices currently rely on the power of the signal between them to estimate the distance. Although it is easy to implement it, this method is incredible. It is incorrect and intervened, which is disappointing to track the item. On the contrary, the channel’s sound calculation calculates the time that takes the signal to travel between two devices, obtaining a centimeter level accuracy.
If you have ever been struggling to find an item tracker using your phone, it is likely as it is relying on the same wrong signal strength method. This is why the support of the UWB (ultra -wide band) in devices like Moto Tag was so important, as the UWB allows to track the exact location far more than the Bluetooth signal power offer.
Left: Find the item tracker using the Bluetooth signal strength measurement. Right: Find the item tracker using UWB.
However, UWB adds complexity and cost to a product. It is also better for a handful of use, which is why so fewer Android phones support it. On the contrary, almost every mobile device supports Bluetooth. This supremacy channel makes the sound of a viable alternative to UWB, even if it is not so precise.
Only the catch is that most existing mobile devices do not support the channel’s sound and will probably never do, as Bluetooth firmware needs update to add this feature. To date, no Android phone – not even Google’s latest pixel devices – has received such a refreshing. However, Google Pixel Watch 3 has achieved this ability with its recent dress OS 5.1 update. After updating, the Watch has now reported that it supports the feature_ Bluetooth_linal_Sounding, a specific Android feature flag that confirms that channel sound is supported. Given that the channel’s voice is a feature of Bluetooth 6.0, we can assume that Pixel Watch 3 was updated to support new quality, but it has not been officially confirmed.
Mashal Rehman / Android Authority
Even despite the UWB, Pixel Watch 3 still benefits from the voice of the channel. The problem is that there is no evidence that the feature is actually being used. This is likely because Google has not released its found hub app for the OS wearing, though evidence suggests that something is underway. The hub will be the main candidate to use the sound of the channel, as it will dramatically improve the locating tracker of Bluetooth 6.0, but the Chipolo Pop is like UWB.
Google is waiting for Android 16 to fully implement it. The new OS version adds ordinary color APIS that will make the use of these tracking technologies such as finders such as hubs. Speaking of Android 16, its compatibility requirements order at least clear performance. Google’s mandate is that channel sound devices “at 90 percent … at a distance of 1m to 90th percent to +/- 0.5m.” This requirement sets the least performance bar, making sure that the tracking experience is reliable in various devices. Of course, whether it is practically intact.
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