Notebook mic screens out noise

INTERNET TELEPHONY is all the rage. But how do you build a decent microphone into a notebook PC? At IDF, Compal thinks it has found the answer with Fortemedia's Small Array Microphone (SAM) .

The big problem with built-in mikes is background noise. If you're not careful the mike will pick up noise from the user typing; the hard disk or optical drive spinning and even the notebook's fan.

Apparently ordinary mikes are known as broadside array microphones. SAM, by contrast boasts a novel cone shaped beam which can effectively suppress ambient noise.

The demo Fortemedia gave to the INQ at the Tech showcase was extremely impressive. The company's rep turned on a loud transistor radio and stuck it right next to the Compal PC.

He then recorded himself speaking into the mike. When the file was played back all ambient noise had disappeared. Especially impressive as the show's background noise had disappeared too.

The other obvious application for SAM, of course, is inside a mobile phone. Fortemedia revealed that it is already fitted inside one commercial available handset - the rakuraku.

That's a Japanese 3G handset built for DoCoMo's Foma network by Fujitsu. Expect more to follow. µ