Wolfson Microelectronics has announced that its high performance stereo digital-to-analogue converter (DAC), the WM8918, has been selected by Sharp to provide outstanding audio for its latest ‘docomo with series', AQUOS PHONE st SH-07D smartphone, now available in Japan from NTT DOCOMO. Powered by Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), the AQOUS PHONE st SH-07D features a 1GHz core processor, an 8 megapixel camera, an LCD touchscreen display and a music player delivering high quality audio playback. Wolfson's WM8918 is designed to deliver superior audio to portable applications including smartphones, tablet computers, multimedia players and gaming devices. Its stereo ground-referenced headphone amplifiers feature a Wolfson Class-W amplifier and an innovative dual-mode charge pump architecture to optimise efficiency and power consumption during playback. Its ground-referenced headphone and line outputs eliminate AC coupling capacitors to reduce both PCB area and bill of materials cost and also improve bass response. The WM8918 also features Wolfson's SilentSwitch™ technology which minimises audible pops and clicks and shortens software driver development. The integrated dynamic range controller provides compression and level control to enhance the playback experience. It can also be used to ensure high quality record performance when used to process signals captured by the on-chip digital microphone interface. Takahisa Yamada, VP of Sales and General Manager at Wolfson Japan, said: "Wolfson has a proud heritage of providing high performance audio solutions to the world's leading consumer electronics manufacturers and we are delighted that Sharp has selected Wolfson technology for its latest smartphone." www.wolfsonmicro.com
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