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Bluetooth and Android - read before you buy Bluetooth headphones
- Thread starter Medion
- Start date
funkylogik
share the love peeps ;)
Excellent stuff there mate thanks 
Interesting to hear it uses ATRAC, because that was a proprietary Sony codec, originally developed for Minidisk, and had to be licenced. But it's probably like MP3 now in that the original patents have expired and it's now public domain. However this aptX thing is subject to patents and licencing, and that's why it's up to the OEMs to pay the money and licence it, because Android itself is free software.
Medion
Android Expert
I removed ATRAC and MP3 from Android's listed as I cannot confirm that's on AOSP. I was looking at a logcat from the wrong device. I apologize for that.
I couldn't find any current info on Sony's ATRAC licensing, so I won't make any assumptions.
MP3 is still owned as proprietary software and licensed for a fee from numerous entities, mainly the Fraunhofer Group*. This is why many free media players that allow you to rip music won't come with their own MP3 encoder. For example, Media Monkey used to not come with MP3 encoding capabilities outside of the trial period on the free version unless you purchased the paid product, or acquired your own MP3 encoder (LAME was recommended).
*Different entities for different countries. As you stated, there are countries where patents have lapsed between 2007-2013. However, just because a patent lapses doesn't mean that the product isn't still sold/licensed. MP3 is still a proprietary product, and it still has patents in effect in many countries, to include the United States.
I couldn't find any current info on Sony's ATRAC licensing, so I won't make any assumptions.
MP3 is still owned as proprietary software and licensed for a fee from numerous entities, mainly the Fraunhofer Group*. This is why many free media players that allow you to rip music won't come with their own MP3 encoder. For example, Media Monkey used to not come with MP3 encoding capabilities outside of the trial period on the free version unless you purchased the paid product, or acquired your own MP3 encoder (LAME was recommended).
*Different entities for different countries. As you stated, there are countries where patents have lapsed between 2007-2013. However, just because a patent lapses doesn't mean that the product isn't still sold/licensed. MP3 is still a proprietary product, and it still has patents in effect in many countries, to include the United States.