Widex Goes Wireless With New High-End Clear 440 Hearing Aid Family

Widex has introduced the new high-end Clear 44o hearing aid family, featuring binaural wireless communication between each hearing aid to provide richer and more realistic sound for users. The new hearing system also provides an external transmitter to send TV audio signals directly into the hearing aids; a small remote controller to switch program settings, control volume and manage other functions of the hearing aids; and a Bluetooth-compatible handset that transmits your cellular phone signal directly into your hearing aids. Other hearing aid manufacturers have introduced their own wireless communication schemes between hearing aids and external devices to enable rapid adjustments to changes in environmental sound, better synching of the sound processing between the two hearing aids. Users report better sound location and comprehension because they are getting more realistic replication of the sounds in their environment, in stereo. Widex is promoting its new C-ISP platform powered by three custom chips as the industry’s best way to synchronize the sound processing in the hearing aids, enable remote control of selected features, and port high-definition audio streamed from external sources.

The three new accessories are a big step forward in assistive listening, because they eliminate the need for a neck loop that provides a direct link through the hearing-aids’ telecoils. Instead the devices transmit digital signals directly into the hearing aids, enabling better audio performance in addition to increased convenience. The TV-DEX system consists of a base and recharger unit that plugs into the TV and transmits to a handheld unit that re-transmits the signal to the user’s hearing aids; the handheld also provides volume control and also has a button to turn off the external microphones on the hearing aids so the user only hears the TV audio signal. The M-DEX device has a Bluetooth link to your mobile phone and acts as a handset that lets you listen and talk, transmitting the phone signal directly into your hearing aids. It also has a volume control plus a button to turn off the external microphone on your hearing aids to make it easier to hear the cell phone signal without the distraction of external environmental noise. Finally, the RC-DEX is a small controller that you can keep in your pocket or purse to control the program settings on your hearing aids as well as raise or lower the volume.

The Clear 440 also includes the Widex SmartSpeak feature — a human voice piped into the hearing aid informing you about what program mode you are in and alerting you when the battery is running low — as well as the innovative Widex Zen relaxation program, which plays random and harmonic tones when you feel like relaxing. IE Zen works as an effective tinnitus masking program, overriding the annoying tinnitus sounds within your ears with more tolerable background noise.

With FDA’s Blessing, New Over-The-Counter Hearing Aids And Personal Sound Amplifiers Promise To Disrupt Global Hearing Industry

Improvements in technology and performance have enabled a new class of over-the-counter hearing aids and personal sound amplifiers to gather momentum in the global hearing-aid market. A new breed of manufacturers is bypassing traditional distribution channels with products that have the potential to dramatically change the price/performance equation and disrupt the traditional ways hearing-aid manufacturers have done business around the world.

In the U.S., the powerful Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates hearing aids, has given this new class of of devices its blessing with a new name–Personal Sound Amplifier Products (PSAPs)–and a new set of guidelines for consumers who may want to buy and use them. It has also opened the door for a new class of over-the-counter hearing aids, sold directly to the consumer without the assistance of an audiologist.

The new products cost hundreds of dollars, versus the thousands of dollars that most name-brand hearing aids cost today. They are easy to acquire over the internet or through the mail. And they have the potential to start meeting the entry-level requirements of the largest market of consumers who need hearing assistance–the swelling ranks of fifty- and sixty-something baby boomers who are gradually losing some hearing and in need of mild-to-moderate hearing assistance. Read more

Able Planet’s Noise-Canceling Headphones Introduce True Hearing-Aid Technology To Consumer Electronics Industry

Able Planet has been around a long time developing assistive listening products for the hearing-assistance industry based on its Linx Audio sound processing technology. But recently it has taken on a new look with a high-profile branding campaign and a new, broad line of high-end noise-canceling headphones, earphones and accessories attacking the heart of the consumer electronics market. At the AudiologyNOW! conference they stood out with a booth promoting “I Am Able” professional athletes who endorse their products, and they were showing new headphones and headsets that are successfully competing head-to-head with Bose and other popular high-end brands.

I caught up with Able Planet’s CEO Kevin Semcken and Chief Audiology Officer Dr. Christoper Schweitzer. Both have vast experience in the health care, medical device and hearing-aid industries. But what stood out for me is their commitment and savvy about what high-end audio consumers are looking for, and how previously arcane hearing-aid technologies such as digital signal processing will play an essential role in consumer electronics. By integrating Linx Audio into all its headphones and headsets, and promoting the technology as its critical advantage, Able Planet is distinguishing itself as one of the very few companies driving high-end hearing technology into mainstream products. Read more

Hatis Assistive Listening Devices Make Hearing Aids Phone- and iPod-Friendly

To listen to an iPod or communicate successfully on the phone, even on my most powerful amplified phone, I need to hear with both ears. I’ve found the best way to accomplish that trick is with a line of products from Hatis that plug into my iPod and my phones. Read more

Good Design Trumps All Else, Even In The Portable Bed-Shaker Market

OK, I finally bought the bed shaker I was stressing about in a post a few weeks ago. I’d been planning to buy Shake Awake, because several people had recommended it to me. But I went with the Sonic Shaker portable vibrating alarm clock from Sonic Alert instead. Read more

Bluetooth Bandwagon Builds Momentum, But Where Are The HOH Products?

Every week it seems we hear of another new product for hard-of-hearing (HOH) consumers utilizing the Bluetooth wireless communications standard. In addition to my post last month on Sound ID, I’ve recently discovered that Starkey Laboratories, Micro-Tech Hearing Instruments, Sonomax Hearing Healthcare, and Gennum Corp. are also getting into the act. And I’m sure there are more. My only comment on all these efforts is, “Sounds great, guys, but when will we actually see (and hear) the products?” Read more

Go America is Going Places

I’d heard of Go America in the go-go days of the dot-com boom, but back then it was just one of a million hot new suppliers of wireless data services for handheld computers. I never knew about its Wyndtell subsidiary, which focused exclusively on providing telecommunications services for deaf and hard-of-hearing people. Read more

Sound ID Has A Sound Idea

Sound ID is a Silicon Valley start-up that is finally breaking down the barriers between consumer electronics and the hearing aid industry. It is developing a Bluetooth-based product that will make it easier for everyone — consumers with normal hearing and hearing-impaired people alike — to understand voices on the other end of their cellphones in noisy environments. Read more

Why Don’t They Lock the ‘Off’ Switch?

Here’s a small gripe. I recently bought a SoundWizard personal microphone and amplifying system from Hi-Tec. It’s a very cool multi-purpose device. It’s got two 3.5 mm plugs for your neckloop, earpods or headphones. Read more

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