One of the biggest issues with TWS and any other kind of wireless headphones for that matter, is limited support for various audio codecs, where many rely on the not so great SBC codec or AAC, simply because these are two codes that are supported by most of the devices that the headphones would be connected to. When it comes to smartphones, Qualcomm is by far the biggest chipset provider and as it happens, Qualcomm is also the owner of the various aptX audio codecs that many headphones support. Up until very recently, the phone makers had to pay a royalty fee to include support for the aptX codecs even if they used Qualcomm's chips in their phones and thus some companies—Samsung for example—decided not to include support for aptX.

Now it has come to light that just like Sony with its LDAC codec, Qualcomm has decided to add support for aptX to the Android Open Source Project (AOSP), which means all Android devices can support aptX as well as aptX HD without paying any royalty fees. However, more advanced versions of aptX, such as aptX Adaptive and the rarely used low latency version of aptX are not included. That said, headphone makers will still have to pay a royalty fee to Qualcomm, although there doesn't appear to be any headphones on the market that support aptX that aren't based on a Qualcomm or one of the older CSR chipsets from the time before Qualcomm acquired them. On the other hand, Sony's LDAC codec is used by a wide range of headphones, of which none rely on a Sony chipset. Regardless, this should be good news for consumers, who will be the ones reaping the benefits from this change in the long term.

Mixcder, the audio experts providing superior sound quality at a low price, announced today the lightest, most comfortable, lowest cost foldable Hi-Fi wireless headphones on the market -- The Mixcder HD901 premium Bluetooth headphones. The Mixcder HD901 Headphones are designed to be everyone's travel-everywhere headphones, featuring a great combination of low price at $19.99, high quality sound with superior bass and 40mm drivers, easy compact travel foldability, light weight at just 5 ounces, and comfort with soft ear cups and adjustable headband sliders. The HD901 is the all-in-one solution for music lovers, audio-book listeners, travelers, sports enthusiasts, and students.

Engineers at British company Cambridge Silicon Radio unveiled the world's slimmest keyboard. With a thickness of just 0.49 mm, the keyboard offers not just a compact 79-key QWERTY keyboard and a multi-touch track-pad, but can also turn itself completely into a touch surface (such as a graphics tablet). The keyboard isn't 0.49 mm throughout, but features a thick portion with its battery, electronics, and a Bluetooth low-energy transceiver, which supports Bluetooth Smart, and which lets you pair it with any Bluetooth-enabled smartphone, tablet, or PC. CSR deployed its newest CSR1010 SoC to run the keyboard, which offers latencies as low as 12 ms. Although unveiled to crowds at IFA Berlin 2013, the company didn't announce retail plans.