Hearing Aids
Oticon To Double The Processing Power Of Its Hearing Aids With New Flagship ‘Agil’ Family
Oticon to Introduce Agil Hearing-Aid Platform William Demant Holding Group’s Oticon hearing-aid brand is getting ready to introduce a new line of hearing aids with twice the processing power of its current flagship family and a new set of sound processing algorithms that the Denmark company claims will substantially improve users’ comprehension of speech in noise.... Read more
Race To Acquire Siemens Hearing Aids Heats Up As Cochlear Ltd. And Synthes Join Fray
Reuters quotes sources saying Cochlear Ltd., one of three global suppliers of cochlear implant devices as well as a leader in bone-anchored hearing aids, intends to join two private equity firms in making a multi-billion dollar bid for Siemens Hearing Instruments, which is being spun off by its parent company. The report also says Synthes, a global medical equipment manufacturer,... Read more
America Hears, Inc. Upgrades Entire Hearing-Aid Line to 32-Channel Digital Signal Processors
America Hears Independence Hearing AidWith its new Independence Family of hearing aids, America Hears, Inc., has upgraded its entire family of digital hearing aids to 32-channel digital signal processors. And, in line with its stated goal of remaining the price/performance leader among hearing-aid manufacturers, it has set prices ranging from $799 to $1,299 per hearing aid,... Read more
HearUSA Scores Hearing-Aid Distribution Deal With AARP
HearUSA Signs Distribution Deal With AARPHearUSA, the U.S. chain of hearing-aid retail outlets, scored a major distribution deal with AARP Services, Inc. to offer discounted hearing aids and extended warranties to the nearly 40 million U.S. members of the world’s largest service organization for adults aged 50 and older. Next to an endorsement by Oprah, a distribution... Read more
Opinion: Hearing Aid Pricing Should be More Transparent
Hearing Aid Pricing Should Be More TransparentThe recent Consumer Reports survey of hearing-aid pricing and fitting practices highlighted a growing problem for the hearing-aid industry. Increasingly, consumers are starting to wonder why a few small digital components that can be purchased individually from wholesalers for tens of dollars each (digital signal processor, microphone,... Read more
Consumer Reports Survey Finds Resellers Routinely Double Wholesale Prices of Hearing Aids
A Consumer Reports Magazine investigation of hearing-aid sales and fitting practices found that resellers commonly mark up the prices of new hearing aids more than 100 percent over the wholesale prices paid to manufacturers. In a major report published in the magazine’s July issue, Consumer Reports editors followed a dozen hearing-impaired patients for 6 months as they... Read more
You Can Trade In Old Hearing Aids For $200 Back From America Hears
If you don’t want to grind up your old unused hearing aids in a blender as seen in the funny Blendtec video, and if you have already made your charitable donations for the year and don’t feel you need to donate them for recycling, there is another way to get them out of your drawer: you can trade in two of your old aids for $200 off the price of a pair of new digital... Read more
Blendtec Shows What You Can Do With Your Unused Hearing Aids
Are you tired of seeing your father’s hearing aids sitting unused in the drawer? Do you want to send him a message he won’t forget? Visit one of the funniest web sites I’ve seen recently. Blendtec Founder Tom DicksonIt’s called “Will it Blend?” hosted by Blendtec, the commercial blender company, which created an internet sensation with its YouTube... Read more
Yes, You Can Buy Premium-Quality Digital Hearing Aids Over The Internet
I recently got a new pair of hearing aids, and I’m as excited as if I’d just bought a new sports car. One of the reasons I’m so happy is that I was able to take ownership of the process for the first time by getting them from America Hears, Inc., which sells and supports hearing-aid consumers directly over the internet. I still love my audiologist, but I’m... Read more
Bernafon Brite Hearing Aids Win Prestigious Red-Dot Design Award
Shortly after my 80-year-old mother-in-law got a CIC (completely-in-the-canal) hearing aid, we got a panicked phone call one evening. “I just ate my hearing aid,” she screamed into the phone. Bernafon Brite Hearing Aid Comes in Multi-ColorsIt seems she had mistakenly dropped her small hearing-aid into a bowl of nuts, and when she grabbed a handful, she chewed it... Read more
Siemens Gets Active With New Cielo And Nitro Hearing-Aid Families
Siemens Hearing is the quiet giant in the hearing-aid industry. While Phonak makes noise with its splashy Audeo ads, while Oticon promotes its stylish candy-colored open-fit hearing aids, while Widex keeps itself busy being the “blingi-est” hearing-aid company, and while GN ReSound makes headlines not getting itself acquired, Siemens Hearing just goes about its... Read more
Songbird Hearing Gets Re-Start Financing For Disposable Hearing Aids
Songbird Hearing, the disposable hearing-aid company which mysteriously suspended operations several years ago, has recently received venture capital financing to re-start its operations. NewSpring Capital and The Provco Group of Pennsylvania have put $4 million in new financing into the New Jersey company, according to the VentureWire newsletter. Songbird originally spun out... Read more