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SONY Boosts Spatial Sound Experience in Gaming With New Software

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Sony Group Corporation (SONY - Free Report) recently launched an innovative software – Gaming Virtualizer by 360 Reality Audio – to bring spatial audio to the listeners, allowing gamers to experience more realistic and immersive sound quality using their headphones.

“Gaming Virtualizer by 360 Reality Audio” is a plug-in software designed specifically for game developers. This software integrates seamlessly with Wwise, a cross-platform audio middleware developed by Audiokinetic Inc., widely used in game development for creating interactive and spatial audio across various platforms.

The rise in popularity of 3D games that support spatial sound, along with the growing preference among gamers for headphone use, has driven demand for more advanced audio solutions. By leveraging SONY’s expertise in spatial sound technology that is developed through its "360 Reality Audio" platform, the cutting-edge software aims to deliver a natural and immersive sound experience in games, whether on mobile devices or PCs.

Main Features of Gaming Virtualizer by 360 Reality Audio

A salient feature of the gaming software is its advanced signal processing capability, which is crucial for delivering high-quality spatial audio with low latency. By optimizing signal processing for spatial sound, it reduces the burden on the hardware. Thus, it allows gamers with mobile devices to enjoy a rich, immersive audio experience without compromising on performance. 

The integration with Wwise enables the gaming software to smoothly implement spatial sound in games. Developers can separate the sounds and adjust them individually, which streamlines the development process and increases efficiency. 

The "Gaming Virtualizer by 360 Reality Audio" application has already garnered attention from several prominent game developers across the globe. Companies such as COLOPL, Inc., Cygames, Inc., GungHo Online Entertainment, Inc., Niantic, Inc., and SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. are currently validating the software for use in their upcoming games.

Tokyo, Japan-based SONY designs, manufactures and sells multiple consumer and industrial electronic equipment. The company’s product list comprises audio and video equipment, televisions, network services, game hardware and software, mobile phones and image sensors. It also actively participates in the production, acquisition and distribution of recorded music and the management and licensing of the words and music for songs.

In the last reported quarter, SONY’s revenues rose 2% year over year to ¥3,011.6 billion, driven by healthy growth across Game & Network Services, Music, Pictures, Entertainment, Technology & Services, and Imaging & Sensing Solutions segments, offset by weakness in the financial services business. Witnessing the strong momentum across most of its business units, SONY has raised its guidance for fiscal 2025. It now expects sales of ¥12,610 billion, up from the prior view of ¥12,310 billion.

At present, SONY carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of SONY have gained 10.5% compared with the sub-industry's growth of 7.2% in the past year.

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Some better-ranked stocks from the broader technology space are Arista Networks, Inc. (ANET - Free Report) , Harmonic Inc. (HLIT - Free Report) and Ubiquiti Inc. (UI - Free Report) . ANET and HLIT presently sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) each, whereas UI carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Arista Networks supplies products to a prestigious set of customers, including Fortune 500 global companies in markets like cloud titans, enterprises, financials and specialty cloud service providers. It delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 15.02%. In the last reported quarter, Arista delivered an earnings surprise of 8.25%.

Harmonic enables media companies and service providers to deliver ultra-high-quality broadcast and OTT video services to consumers globally. HLIT delivered a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 32.5%.

Ubiquiti company offers a comprehensive portfolio of networking products and solutions for service providers and enterprises. The company’s effective management of its strong global network of more than 100 distributors and master resellers improved its visibility for future demand and inventory management techniques.

 

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