<s>
Phonon	B-Language
is	O
the	O
multimedia	O
API	B-Application
provided	O
by	O
KDE	B-Application
and	O
is	O
the	O
standard	O
abstraction	O
for	O
handling	O
multimedia	O
streams	O
within	O
KDE	B-Application
software	O
and	O
also	O
used	O
by	O
several	O
Qt	B-Language
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phonon	B-Language
was	O
originally	O
created	O
to	O
allow	O
KDE	B-Application
and	O
Qt	B-Language
software	I-Language
to	O
be	O
independent	O
of	O
any	O
single	O
multimedia	B-Library
framework	I-Library
such	O
as	O
GStreamer	B-Language
or	O
xine	B-Application
and	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
stable	O
API	B-Application
for	O
a	O
major	O
version	O
's	O
lifetime	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
done	O
for	O
various	O
reasons	O
:	O
to	O
create	O
a	O
simple	O
KDE/Qt	O
style	O
multimedia	O
API	B-Application
,	O
to	O
better	O
support	O
native	O
multimedia	B-Library
frameworks	I-Library
on	O
Windows	B-Application
and	O
macOS	B-Application
,	O
and	O
to	O
fix	O
problems	O
of	O
frameworks	O
becoming	O
unmaintained	O
or	O
having	O
API	B-Application
or	O
ABI	B-Operating_System
instability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phonon	B-Language
is	O
not	O
designed	O
to	O
have	O
every	O
conceivable	O
multimedia	O
feature	O
,	O
but	O
rather	O
as	O
a	O
simple	O
way	O
to	O
perform	O
common	O
functions	O
of	O
computer	O
media	O
players	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developers	O
that	O
require	O
more	O
control	O
over	O
a	O
given	O
media	O
backend	O
than	O
Phonon	B-Language
can	O
provide	O
are	O
recommended	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
native	O
media	O
API	B-Application
or	O
the	O
GStreamer	B-Language
API	B-Application
on	O
systems	O
for	O
which	O
it	O
is	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
idea	O
behind	O
Phonon	B-Language
started	O
at	O
aKademy	O
2004	O
in	O
Ludwigsburg	O
near	O
Stuttgart	O
(	O
Germany	O
)	O
,	O
where	O
a	O
new	O
multimedia	O
API	B-Application
had	O
to	O
be	O
chosen	O
to	O
replace	O
aRts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
earliest	O
version	O
was	O
called	O
KDEMM	O
(	O
KDE	B-Application
MultiMedia	O
)	O
and	O
was	O
only	O
supported	O
by	O
JuK	B-Language
and	O
Amarok	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
Matthias	O
Kretz	O
continued	O
to	O
work	O
single	O
handed	O
on	O
the	O
project	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
his	O
university	O
thesis	O
,	O
The	O
project	O
changed	O
name	O
once	O
more	O
but	O
in	O
February	O
2006	O
the	O
name	O
Phonon	B-Language
was	O
finally	O
chosen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
official	O
release	O
was	O
part	O
of	O
KDE	B-Application
4.0	O
in	O
January	O
2008	O
,	O
the	O
same	O
year	O
Phonon	B-Language
was	O
adopted	O
by	O
Qt	B-Language
and	O
released	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
Qt	B-Language
4.4	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Even	O
though	O
support	O
for	O
Phonon	B-Language
in	O
Qt	B-Language
will	O
continue	O
for	O
the	O
4.x	O
series	O
,	O
Qt	B-Language
has	O
already	O
replaced	O
Phonon	B-Language
with	O
QtMultimedia	O
and	O
QtMobility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phonon	B-Language
interfaces	O
with	O
various	O
backends	O
with	O
what	O
developers	O
call	O
"	O
engines	O
"	O
;	O
each	O
engine	O
works	O
with	O
one	O
specific	O
backend	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
backend	O
will	O
let	O
Phonon	B-Language
control	O
basic	O
functions	O
like	O
play	O
,	O
pause	O
,	O
and	O
seek	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phonon	B-Language
will	O
also	O
support	O
higher	O
level	O
functions	O
such	O
as	O
how	O
tracks	O
fade	O
into	O
each	O
other	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Phonon	B-Language
can	O
switch	O
multimedia	B-Library
frameworks	I-Library
on	O
the	O
fly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
change	O
will	O
also	O
be	O
system	O
wide	O
,	O
affecting	O
all	O
applications	O
that	O
use	O
Phonon	B-Language
,	O
so	O
changing	O
frameworks	O
will	O
be	O
much	O
easier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
Solid	B-Language
,	O
Phonon	B-Language
gives	O
users	O
greater	O
control	O
over	O
accessories	O
like	O
headsets	O
,	O
speakers	O
,	O
and	O
microphones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
was	O
given	O
that	O
one	O
could	O
have	O
a	O
VoIP	B-Application
conversation	O
only	O
be	O
played	O
through	O
one	O
's	O
headset	O
,	O
but	O
have	O
all	O
other	O
sounds	O
come	O
out	O
through	O
speakers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Supported	O
backends	O
on	O
most	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
are	O
GStreamer	B-Language
and	O
VLC	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Supported	O
backends	O
under	O
Windows	B-Application
include	O
DirectShow	B-Library
,	O
VLC	B-Application
and	O
MPlayer	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Supported	O
backend	O
under	O
macOS	B-Application
is	O
QuickTime	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
xine	B-Application
and	O
MPlayer	B-Application
backends	O
are	O
deprecated	O
on	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
no	O
longer	O
being	O
developed	O
.	O
</s>
