Time to Read: 5 minutes
Every year, there are two major “launch seasons” for new hearing technology. The first occurs around April and revolves around the American Audiology Association (AudiologyNow) conference. The second is based around the European Hearing Aid (EUHA congress) held in Germany, around October.
The AudiologyNow conference has concluded and with it there have been a few new technology launches. I will categorise them each by manufacturer (in no specific order)
Phonak:
Phonak has competed its roll-out of the Belong platform to now include the Naida range. Naida is Phonak’s most powerful range of hearing aids and it now benefits from the improved performance of the Belong Platform. The Naida also now has a rechargeable option in the Naida BR.
Naida B is available in the following ranges:
Naida B30 Sp and UP
Naida B50 SP, UP and BR
Naida B70 SP, UP and BR
Naida B90 SP, UP and BR
Phonak’s CROS has also received and update with a New rechargeable CROS option. Gone are the days of frequently battery changes when using CROS. The CROS B-R is compatible with the Naida BR, Audeo BR and Bolero BR for a complete Rechargeable hearing solution. Not sure what CROS means? Here is an article explaining CROS devices.
Unitron:
Unitron has launched the Moxi ALL. The Moxi ALL is a rechargeable hearing aid with replaceable batteries, capable of streaming a phone call directly from any Bluetooth capable phone (not just iPhonbe) directly to the ear of your choice. It is available in all performance levels, from the cost effective Moxi 500 through to the premium level Moxi Pro.
Signia:
Signia has released the Signia NX in a number of new sizes and styles, to allow for a greater adoption of it’s unique Own voice processing, which improves the perception of the user’s own voice. They have also released the Charge & Go NX, which gives you the option of a Bluetooth capable made for iPhone hearing aid with a Built-in Lithium-Ion rechargeable battery.
Signia NX is available in the 3Nx, 5Nx and 7Nx
Widex:
Widex is the only company to release a brand new chipset rather than an iterative tweak to their range. Widex is launching the brand new Evoke range. The Evoke will be using Machine learning to anonymously capture hearing aid usage data from all it’s global users. It will then use this data to work out improvements in performance, that will be released in the form of updates back to the users. This should result in ever improving hearing aid performance as more people use the platform in their daily lives. It also comes with direct to iPhone connectivity.
The Evoke supersedes the previous Unique range of hearing aids.
This is currently launching in Australia at the time of writing and should be available early June 2018. We will have more information on this soon.
Industry news:
Just last week, it was announced that Sivantos (Signia Hearing aids) and Widex will be merging. This will make the merged company the third largest group after Sonova (Phonak and Unitron. Retail Chain: Connect Hearing) and William Demant (Oticon, Bernafon, Sonic Innovations. Retail chain: Audioclinic). Widex has been quite innovative, but due to its relatively smaller size and the fact that the are a private family owned company, they did not have the resources to compete against the biggest players. Sivantos has the resources to contribute financially and with R&D to this partnership.
Widex also owns the Bloom Hearing(™) retail chain, where Sivantos does not have its own chain in Australia. So Sivantos can benefit from the Widex retail footprint as well as the R&D Widex brings to the table.
You may read the full press release here: http://www.hearingreview.com/2018/05/sivantos-widex-announce-plans-merge/
