Google Acquires Limes Audio to Improve Audio Quality in Its Products

After acquiring smartwatch OS startup Cronologics last month, Google has now acquired another company called Limes Audio. The Swedish company deals in voice communications solutions, and essentially builds technology that aims to improve audio quality for communication-related technology.

Google has announced this acquisition on its blog, but has refrained from revealing any financial details. Limes Audio was founded in 2007 by academic researchers Fredric Lindstrm and Christian Schuldt, with the aim to develop technology that makes voice communication systems sound better. The company had a workforce of only 20 people.

With this deal, Google looks improve on audio quality of its products in Gsuite. Google Hangouts and Chromebox for Meetings are used for video conferences and business meetings, and Google looks to leverage the intelligence received from Limes Audio to elevate its product quality.

"One of the biggest challenges to a great video meeting is the audio quality. Conference rooms today come in all shapes and sizes and that can provide a challenge for acoustics. Additionally, a poor Internet connection can hamper voice quality in video conference calls. Limes Audio has been building solutions that remove the distracting noise, distortion and echoes that can affect online video and telephony meetings, improving the overall online conference experience. We're excited to work closely with the Limes Audio team to introduce new solutions that offer our customers the best online voice quality on the market," Google wrote on its blog.

This suggests that Google could also be working with Limes Audio to build new products that elevate audio quality, apart from improving experience in existing products like Hangouts and YouTube Live. More often than not, audio quality is compromised when outdoors, where factors like background noise and wind noise come into play. It will be interesting to see what Google does to combat these pain points.