The teams at HARMAN and Blackfire have partnered up to bring an all new software development kit and developer community for its wireless HD home audio system.

HARMAN and Blackfire announce new SDK for wireless audio

HARMAN wants to make it easier for developers to build better audio experiences into their connected apps, so they have teamed up with Blackfire to release a new software development kit along with a community for developers. Not only will developers have a new place to go to get support and help, but the new set of tools makes it easier for them to integrate several new options. HARMAN, the parent company behind brands like Harman Kardon and others, specializes in audio technology and integration, and Blackfire is a company which provides technology and solutions for media applications that utilize Wi-Fi.

With these new tools, developers will be able to determine Wi-Fi strength, define rooms, control sound levels, send audio, and much more. The software development kit and developer community are available to interested developers now.

Get started with the HARMAN WirelessHD SDK

Press release:

HARMAN International Industries, Incorporated (NYSE:HAR), the premier audio, visual, infotainment and enterprise automation group, announced today that it has released the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) for the Harman Kardon Omni Wireless HD home audio system. This SDK enables third-party developers to create groundbreaking home audio and IoT (Internet of Things) experiences for Android users with high-fidelity sound.

With HARMAN's SDK, developers will find it more manageable to explore, innovate and participate in the new network of connected audio and IoT experiences by accessing tools, downloads and community forums. The HARMAN Developer Community will leverage HARMAN's expertise and technology portfolio to contribute to the next generation of apps.

"Building audio features into connected apps represents the next wave of user experience, and HARMAN is taking a huge leap to encourage developers to participate in this world and turn their ideas into reality," said IP Park, EVP & Chief Technology Officer of HARMAN. "Our new relationship with the developer community will unleash ingenious ideas simply waiting to be noticed. By being the first to bring out a mobile SDK for our innovative software-defined speakers, this is truly a win-win for HARMAN and the developer community."

Appealing to audio software product developers, IoT developers, independent developers, and text-to-speech developers, the HARMAN Android SDK makes the process easy to download and test with an application. In addition to detecting, controlling and sending audio to WiFi speakers, the software can identify the status of speakers, determine the strength of the WiFi-signal, and receive events back from the speaker, such as the volume level. This is all made possible through the HARMAN abstraction helper library, documentation and example applications built for the Android operating system.

"With SDKs for iOS and now Android, HARMAN is offering revolutionary wireless products that open even more opportunities for innovation," said Kevin Hague, VP of Developer Community and Programs with HARMAN. "We are delighted to see how the developer community takes this tool and uses it to create other pioneering products."

The HARMAN Wireless HD Audio SDK is built on and powered by BLACKFIRE RESEARCH™ wireless media technology under license from BLACKFIRE RESEARCH Corporation.

Furthering its commitment to community-led development, HARMAN recently announced a strategic partnership with Quirky, the company that makes invention accessible, to jointly develop the next generation of audio products. HARMAN will leverage Quirky's platform and innovation community to generate new ideas for connected products across HARMAN's family of brands including Harman Kardon, JBL and Infinity.

For further information about the HARMAN Developer Community and the SDKs for iOS and Android, please: visit http://developer.harman.com.