Hearing Technologies

As part of the announcement last week of the next generation Pixel smartphones, Google unveiled its all-new wireless earbuds: Pixel Buds. Like Apple, and other smartphone makers, Google has moved to do away with the traditional headphone jack and is now looking to cash in on the wireless headphone market. Priced at $159 for a set–the same as Apple AirPods–Google

Update May 17, 2018: MED-EL USA announced today that the FDA has given approval for the RONDO 2 Audio Processor and wireless charging pad. According to the company, product availability is estimated for Fall 2018.   Hearing implant maker, MED-EL, announced the launch of an all-new cochlear implant audio processor at the 61st Austrian National Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery

Massachusetts-based audio giant, Bose, announced late last week that it was officially joining the wireless earbud market. The company unveiled the new SoundSport Free wireless hearable device, which is aimed to compete directly with Apple, Bragi and others. The new SoundSport Free devices are said to last an impressive 5 hours per charge, placing it among the top in its

At this year’s European consumer electronics show (IFA) in Berlin, Sony unveiled its first truly wireless earbuds: the WF-1000X. Sony will now officially join an increasingly competitive hearable segment that continues to be dominated by Apple. Sony’s new devices offer many of the same features of its competitors, such as the ability to adjust playback of music, take phone calls

At this year’s European consumer electronics show (IFA) in Berlin, Samsung unveiled a newly updated version of its IconX hearable. The updated wireless earbuds are said to resolve many of the issues that have plagued the devices since they were first launched in the spring of 2016. While Samsung was the first major consumer electronics company to release truly wireless

The South African-based hearX Group announced a global launch of its revolutionary hearScope technology, via a crowd-funding campaign on IndieGoGo. The hearScope devices uses a magnification “pen” with a camera, connected to a smartphone application, to examine the ear and take high-quality pictures of the eardrum. The company claims the quality of the images are as good as currently available

Starkey Hearing Technologies announced the launch this week of a new line of hearing aids, which the company says is based on “research in virtual reality, advanced neuroscience, and audiology and signal processing”. The new hearing aid lines include: Muse iQ, SoundLens Synergy iQ, and Halo iQ. Alongside the hearing aids, the company also released a new TruLink Remote.  

Swiss startup, Fennex, has released an updated version of their Augmented Hearing App, which allows users to turn their wireless Apple AirPods, or wired EarPods, into personal amplifiers. The app is currently available for free download. Fennex’s app is said to be the only one designed specifically for Apple’s AirPods, which have becoming an increasingly popular alternative to traditional headphones

Anker’s Zolo Liberty+ hearable promises to solve the problems inherent in “traditional wireless earphones”, through enhanced technology to offer a “zero compromise” wireless headphone alternative. The hearable will be among the first devices to incorporate the new Bluetooth 5.0 protocol. The company’s Kickstarter campaign, which began in June 2017, has vastly exceeded its fundraising goal of $50,000, totaling nearly $3

Clarity, a Tennessee-based provider of hearing loss products, announced last week the launch of their new Personal Sound Amplification Product (PSAP) the Clarity Chat. The device, available as a single behind-the-ear unit or as a pair, is dubbed as an “affordable and easy-to-use amplifier”. According to the company, the 8 channel digital PSAP device can “help differentiate speech from background