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 hearing aids from America Hears. The promotion means you can get a pair from America Hears, the only direct-to-consumer online provider of premium programmable digital hearing aids, for $895 a piece. It's a great deal, as America Hears' flat $995-per-hearing-aid price is already less than half the cost of other premium brands. I recently wrote about my experience with a new pair of America Hears aids, which allow you to make programming adjustments at home. 
Posted by David on May 3, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
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 always looking for something new, and America Hears not only offered a new product but also an entirely new way of getting hearing assistance. I ordered exactly what I wanted, got a set of aids in the mail programmed to my audiogram, and then I was able to make adjustments using software they gave me for my PC with the help of the America Hears audiologist at the other end of the phone. Because the company manufactures and sells direct to consumers, their hearing aids are much less expensive than other premium brands. My expectation was that I'd get a serviceable product, but without the bells and whistles of my high-end Widex hearing aids. However, I was stunned when America Hears sent me full-function, premium digital products that provided me with a much better hearing experience in every way.
Here's the short story, though I will write more about it in future posts. To get an America Hears hearing aid, all you have to do is fax the company a copy of a recent audiogram. They build a fully digital product, and their staff audiologists program it exactly to your specifications. They ship it to you along with software and a simple programmer you can use with your PC to adjust your hearing aids further. Because they sell and support direct without any middlemen, they are very affordable, charging only $995 per hearing aid. That's less than half what other makers of premium-brand hearing aids charge. They charge the same price for any of their models, wihch range from new open-fit speaker-in-the-ear products to traditional behind-the-ear models to numerous in-the-ear designs.
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Posted by David on Apr 20, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)
Gennum Abandons Hearing-Aid Market With DSP Chip and Headset Spinoffs
Gennum Corp. of Canada, long one of the leading suppliers of digital signal processing (DSP) chips and other technologies to the hearing-aid and headset industries, is abandoning the hearing-aid market with the spinout of its hearing instrument design and manufacturing operations to a private equity group and the sale of its consumer Bluetooth headset business to a consumer electronics company based in Sweden. The Gores Group, LLC, a Southern California-based private equity fund, has purchased the hearing-aid chip business and is backing a management spinout that will be named Sound Design Technologies Ltd. And CellPoint Connect AB, manufacturer of the Flamingo Bluetooth, has acquired the Gennum nXZEN and nX6000 Bluetooth headsets that have won acclaim for their sophisticated DSP-based noise-cancellation technology. Gennum's retreat from the hearing-aid business isn't necessarily bad news for hearing-aid manufactrers depending on its DSP chips, because the equity firm is backing a group of managers already running Gennum's Sound Design hearing-aid business and presumably will help them more sharply focus on hearing-industry customer needs in addition to providing investment capital to further develop their technology.
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Posted by David on Sep 29, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Note To Steve Jobs: Why Isn't The Apple iPhone Hearing-Aid Compatible?
I can't believe Apple failed to make its iPhone compatible with either hearing aids or cochlear implants. I'm in the market for a mobile phone again and just discovered the lack of compatibility. Given all the hype surrounding the iPhone launch, I'm surprised there haven't been more complaints, other than the strong objection I just found on Paula Rosenthal's HearingExchange site, some chatter on Apple forums, and a complaint made to the FCC by the Hearing Loss Association of America. HLAA has done the most advocacy for hearing-aid compatibility (HAC) regulations, which now mandate 50 percent of manufacturers' handsets meet minimum M3 compatibility standards. The M3 and M4 ratings mean there's no buzzing when you listen to the phone with your hearing-aid microphone on, and T3 and T4 ratings mean the phone works with the telecoils in your hearing aids. But according to the HLAA complaint: "Apple has now entered the scene and is predicted to shake up the entire wireless industry. Yet they are not, nor have ever been, involved in any discussions regarding HAC requirements." Steve Jobs is known for his arrogance and inflexibility when it comes to the design of his products. Apple's treatment of the hearing-impaired population is a great example. What a disappointment.
Posted by David on Sep 20, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)
HearUSA Hires NFL Coaching Legend Don Shula To Promote Hearing Aids
HearUSA, the rapidly growing conglomerator of hearing-aid retail stores across the U.S., has hired Don Shula, the legendary former coach of the National Football League's Miami Dolphins, to promote hearing aids among active Baby Boomers. In its second-quarter financial report, HearUSA cited the costs of the Don Shula "Just Find Out" TV and promotional advertising campaign as one of the reasons it incurred a $3.4 million loss, or $0.09 per share, in its second fiscal quarter. The company has been investing in rapid growth and said it expects to hit more than $100 million in revenues in 2007 as it continues opening and acquiring retail hearing-aid centers. The company also recently announced expanded agreements with leading managed care providers, giving the hearing-aid provider access to a pool of 2.5 million insured patients. Among the providers HearUSA has agreements with is the U.S. Veteran's Administration. That relationship is curious given the fact that the U.S. government usually looks for made-in-America suppliers, whereas 90 percent of the products HearUSA sells comes from Siemens, a German company, according to an announcement HearUSA made in January 2007. Siemens also has a significant financial interest in HearUSA, the company said in the same announcement.
Posted by David on Sep 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
Hearing-Aid Reseller Amplifon To Get Long-Overdue Image Makeover
The Deafness and Hearing Aids blog reports that Amplifon, the world's largest hearing-aid retailer, has hired world-class advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi for a $14-million image makeover. Reselling hearing aids has long been a mom-and-pop-style business, with small dispensers and one-person audiology practices accounting for a huge percentage of global hearing-aid sales. Amplifon is one of several companies attempting to rationalize hearing-aid distribution, sales, and service by creating and acquiring chains of hearing centers throughout the world. Saatchi promotes its ability to turn brand names into "Lovemarks" that the consuming public cannot get enough of. The image makeover is timely and long-overdue, especially for Miracle Ear, one of Amplifon's best-known brands, which has hearing centers in hundreds of Sears stores in the U.S.
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Posted by David on Aug 31, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
'Boomer Babe' Says Phonak Audeo Hearing-Aid Ads Are Okay With Her
The Phonak Audeo hearing-aid advertising campaign is the gift that just keeps giving. I ridiculed the campaign when it first broke, but shame on me. By blitzing consumer magazines popular with baby boomers (Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, etc.) with its edgy ads, the new Audeo open-fit behind-the-ear hearing aids have turned more heads of fashion-conscious boomers than anything I've seen. I really enjoyed the latest writeup on Boomer Babe's blog on the Inventor Spot web site. Boomer Babe writes about all sorts of gadgets of interest to people in the 40s, 50s and beyond and should be a fun read for many Hearing Mojo readers. One of the best lines in her writeup, which is titled "Hearing Aids Just Got Cool and Sexy," is in the comment section, where a reader observes: "Biggest cause of hearing aids? To much phone sex." That about sums up the Phonak campaign which Sonova CEO Valentin Chapero is touting as a vehicle for the company's bid to overtake Siemens and William Demant as the world's top hearing-aid company, in spite of the collapse of Sonova's long-planned acquisition of GN Resound.
Posted by David on Aug 13, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
Advanced Bionics Is An Independent Cochlear Implant Maker Again
In 2004, it seemed to be a marriage made in heaven: Boston Scientific, the world's leading manufacturer of cardiac stents and other implant devices, acquired Advanced Bionics, one of the world's three cochlear implant manufacturers for $740 million plus additional payments based on future growth. But the marriage quickly soured and after several difficult years dissolved entirely last week. Boston Scientific agreed to return the Advanced Bionics cochlear implant and a line of drug-pump products back to Mann and other members of the original management team, and Boston Scientific will keep the Advanced Bionics pain management business, which includes a spinal-cord stimulator to manage chronic pain. The match was problematic nearly from its inception.
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Posted by David on Aug 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Sonova Undaunted By Collapse Of GN Resound Hearing-Aid Acquisition
Valentin Chapero is telling Wall Street that Sonova, led by its Phonak brand of hearing aids, will still vie to become the world's number one hearing-aid company even after the collapse of its bid to acquire GN Resound from GN Store Nord. The German trade authorities blocked the bid with a final decision this past week forbidding the merger in Germany, where the combination would create an effective oligopoly with three companies in control of 90 percent of the hearing-aid market. Sonova CEO Chapero has told analysts he still expects Phonak to grow faster than the rest of the industry and close in on Siemens Hearing and the William Demant companies, the world's two biggest hearing-aid companies. GN Store Nord, which has a highly successful head-set business, now has to decide whether to seek another buyer for GN Resound, spin it out as a separate company, or hang onto it.
Posted by David on Aug 12, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Sonic Innovations Sees Healthy Increase In Hearing-Aid Sales
Sonic Innovations, a leading U.S.-based manufacturer, reported a healthy 16.4 percent increase in sales to $30.4 million (US) in its latest fiscal quarter, a growth rate apparently well above the rate at which the global market is growing. Sonic Innovations has cashed in on the craze for small, open-fit, behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids with its year-old ion family of hearing aids, and in April the company not only introduced the new and improved ion 200, but also an entirely new family of Velocity high-performance BTE and completely-in-the-canal (CIC) hearing aids. Sonic Innovations reported a very slight loss for the quarter of a little under half a million dollars, or $0.02 per share, due to costs of developing and introducing the new products. But the company is profitable for the first six months of the fiscal year. If new-product sales continue to increase at such a healthy clip, the company should be well-positioned to secure its position as one of the top seven global hearing aid manufacturers.
Posted by David on Aug 4, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Aug. 8 Is Drop-Dead Date for Phonak GN Resound Acquisition Decision
Valentin Chapero, CEO of Sonova Holding AG, formerly Phonak AG, said this week Sonova may abandon its quest to acquire GN Resound if the German trade office on Aug. 8 confirms its veto of the merger. The German decision would prevent the combined companies from doing business in Germany, would make it impossible to go forward with the acquisition, Chapero indicated following a preliminary ruling this week. Sonova changed its name Aug. 1 in anticipation of the merger, which would have added the GN ReSound brand alongside Phonak in making the holding company one of the world's top three hearing-aid manufacturers. Stay tuned.
Posted by David on Aug 4, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Beltone Touts New Hearing Aid As Smallest And Lightest In Its Class
Beltone has introduced the Beltone Marq, an open-fit receiver-in-the-ear hearing aid that the company describes as the "smallest and lightest hearing instrument of its kind." The GN Resound subsidiary is a well-known brand in the U.S., where it serves the market for low-to-medium-priced hearing aids through numerous retail Beltone hearing centers. The technology and design are similar to other manufacturers' tiny behind-the-ear designs with near-invisible wires to a speaker (receiver) with a soft, open tip inserted deep in the ear canal. Like the others, it is so lightweight and comfortable that the user can barely feel it on or in the ear, and from a cosmetic perspective it is truly near-invisible. The only catch is that GN Resound's parent company, GN Store Nord, is trying to sell GN Resound and its subsidiary brands to Phonak, which is intent on becoming one of the world's largest hearing-aid companies through both acquisitions and aggressive introductions of new products.
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Posted by David on Jul 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Startup Bionica To Market New 'Personal Communication System'
It's not every day a new hearing-aid company is launched from the ground up. A group of entrepreneurs in Providence, Rhode Island, yesterday announced they formed Bionica Corp. to develop and market a new "Personal Communication System." With $250,000 in backing from the Slater Technology Fund, a New England Venture Capital firm, the new company sits in the shadow of Brown University. With broad and deep experience in technology development and industrial design, Bionica's founders, Ralph Beckman and Kipp Bradford, have impressive start-up credentials. And they have recruited a CEO with world-class hearing-aid experience, Peter T. Hahn, the former President of U.S. Operations for Oticon, the world's third-largest hearing-aid manufacturer. Their personal communicator, Clio, apparently will be a next-generation hearing aid that is "based upon leading edge technology in microprocessors and sound transmission technology" but which is "carefully designed for user friendliness." I can't wait to hear more.
Posted by David on Jun 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
AdRants: Do Hearing Aids Really Need 'Dolce and Gabanna Treatment'?
AdRants, a top web site covering the advertising industry, picked up our recent post on how Phonak is using some over-the-top advertising imagery in an attempt to make the new Phonak Audeo hearing aids more cool. The AdRants story is worth reading because it points out that the evolution in perceptions of hearing-impaired people is on the same positive track we've seen with other conditions -- as when things once labeled "disabilities" are now labeled "challenges." It shares my question whether hearing-aid manufacturers need to bend over backward to eliminate the hearing-aid stigma by trying to make their products impossibly cool: "Some things don't need the Dolce and Gabbana treatment." But it quite rightly points out that ads featuring buff dudes are often what it takes to get the attention of an aging generation of Baby Boomers desperately trying to hang onto their youth.
Posted by David on Jun 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Phonak PR On Slow-Growth Hearing-Aid Market Misses The Point: It's Not The Product, It's The Price!
Phonak has cranked up its PR engine for the launch of the snazzy new Audeo hearing aid family, scoring a beautiful piece in BusinessWeek magazine on the wonders of its expensive new digital hearing aids with their jazzy colors and names. BusinessWeek gives Phonak CEO Valentin Chapero a bully pulpit to promote his company's strong financial performance and to tout Phonak's contested acquisition of GN Resound. But he fails to mention what should have been the main point of the story -- that manufacturers' too-high prices are responsible for the slow growth of the global hearing aid industry. Chapero tells BusinessWeek that, in spite of the mushrooming population of hearing-impaired baby boomers, poor marketing and product development have meant slow adoption by consumers. He even makes the stunning admission that, "It's very difficult when you are making a product that actually nobody wants." He goes on to predict the situation will change when the hearing-impaired public discovers the "hip" new Audeo family and clamors to spend upwards of $3,000 per hearing aid, more than double and even triple what you pay for comparable digital aids from other manufacturers. While the article gushes over Phonak's profit performance, it misses the main point entirely: that as long as the oligopoly of seven (soon to be six) leading manufacturers in the global hearing aid industry continue to charge thousands of dollars for a collection of digital components with an original cost of no more than several hundred dollars in total, growth in the hearing aid industry will remain stagnant, and millions of consumers will remain priced out of the market no matter how dire their need or how seductive the design of the manufacturers' new products may be.
Posted by David on Jun 6, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)
Sebotek Patent Infringement Suit Challenges Big Hearing Aid Companies
Sebotek's patent infringement suit against several of the world's largest hearing-aid manufacturers is a David-and-Goliath challenge to protect its intellectual property. It also throws a big element of uncertainty into a significant and fast-growing segment of the market for open-fit behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids. Sebotek was first to market with a "receiver-in-the-ear" (speaker-in-the-ear) hearing aid featuring a nearly invisible wire from a small behind-the-ear sound processor to a speaker situated deep in the ear canal. Separating the microphone from the speaker, which is usually integrated into the same behind-the-ear device, made the hearing aid smaller, reduced feedback and made the BTE's far more cosmetically appealing. Subsequently, other manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon with their own "receiver-in-the-ear" designs, and now Sebotek is crying foul.
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Posted by David on May 5, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
Oticon Integrates Wireless Bluetooth Receiver In New Epoq Hearing Aids
Oticon’s latest new technology is whiz bang, integrating a Bluetooth receiver inside its new Epoq family of hearing aids. Epoq also provides wireless binaural communication between right and left hearing aids to make stereophonic sound more natural. But to me the most exciting innovation is the integrated Bluetooth, which enables mobile phone reception directly by the hearing aids. I get that benefit currently with a pair of Hatis silhouettes which plug directly into my cell phone and hang behind my ears next to my behind-the-ear hearing aids. They work well but require that I be tethered to the phone in addition to taking them on and off and constantly making sure the silhouettes are set properly next to the telecoils in my hearing aids. Getting phone reception directly into the aids through a wireless Bluetooth connection is the holy graille. But the nifty new solution isn’t without its drawbacks.
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Posted by David on Apr 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (9) | TrackBacks (0)
On-Again, Off-Again Merger Of Hearing-Aid Giants Phonak and GN Resound May Be On Again
The CEO of Phonak Holding in Switzerland says he won’t be deterred, at least for now, by the German cartel office veto of the company’s acquisition of GN ReSound. Valentin Chapero said Phonak will work to alleviate regulatory authorities’ concerns that eliminating yet another independent hearing-aid manufacturer from the hearing-aid market will give the remaining giants – especially Phonak and German giant Siemens – de-facto monopoly pricing power. If the merger goes through there will be only six major manufacturers controlling the vast majority of global hearing-aid sales.
Posted by David on Apr 19, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
USA Today: How Starkey Founder Bill Austin Does Well By Doing Good
USA Today has published a wonderful profile on Bill Austin, Founder and CEO of the biggest hearing-aid manufacturer in the U.S., Starkey Laboratories. It focuses rightly on the phenomenal degree of philanthropic work he's done, distributing free hearing aids to millions of people in need throughout the world. It also reviews his history as a super salesman of hearing aids, with his biggest breakthrough fitting President Ronald Reagan in 1983. Since then he's fitted four other presidents including G.W. Bush who wears Starkey earplugs while hunting to protect his hearing from gunshot noise. There's also a link to an additional interesting story on why hearing aids are so expensive. It's the most concise summary I've seen of: 1) the hefty R&D costs that have to be amortized across a market of far fewer units than typical consumer electronics products reach; and 2) the lack of insurance reimbursement for hearing aids. Mostly though it's an inspiring story of an all-American entrepreneur and innovator who single-handedly helped build an industry, then used his hard-won riches to help out others around the world.
Posted by David on Aug 11, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)
And Then There Were Six: GN Store Nord Puts GN ReSound On The Block
I wrote about the "seven sisters" of the global hearing aid industry a while ago, but now it appears there will be six. Consolidation among the largest manufacturers continues as GN Store Nord considers selling GN ReSound, the world's third-largest hearing-aid brand, to one of the other majors. Analysts expect there will be several suitors. William Demant Holdings of Denmark, the world's second-largest hearing-aid maker with the Oticon and Bernafon brands as well as Phonic Ear assistive listening devices and Sennheiser headphones, would be a natural fit. So would Phonak Group, the world's fifth-largest manufacturer. There are a number of reasons for consolidation among the majors, some of them good for hearing-aid customers, othters not so good.
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Posted by David on Jul 27, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Buy Or Build? Starkey Turns Semiconductor Design Over To AMI
Buy or build? That's a question that always confronts system manufacturers. It makes sense to buy standard components, but you want to own the designs for components that give your product a performance edge. Starkey Laboratories has answered the question about a major component in its hearing aids by selling its chip design group to AMI Semiconductor, Inc., which produces DSP chips for a number of hearing aid manufacturers around the world. Standard products can be produced in high volumes that help lower the cost of the system, whereas the propriety components, while they are more expensive to build, can help the system manufacturer command a higher price because they give a competitive advantage to the end product.
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Posted by David on Jul 20, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Vortis Cell Phone Antenna Reduces Hearing-Aid Interference
A start-up company based in Glasgow, Scotland, has developed an innovative antenna technology eliminating the electrical interference that can make cell phones impossible to use with hearing aids. Dual-antenna array technology built into the Vortis Technologies Ltd. antenna radiates electrical signals in a figure-eight pattern out and away from the user's head and hearing aids. The result is not only buzz-free reception through the hearing aids but also lower power consumption and longer battery life, because the phone has to work less hard to deliver a clear signal. It has the added benefit of eliminating radiation directed at the head that some still fear may cause long-term health problems. A Silicon Valley telecommunications entrepreneur, James Johnson, began working on the innovative antenna technology in the '90s and located the company in Scotland to address the emerging European Union market for accessible solutions. With the U.S. Federal Communications Commission recently mandating cell phone compatibility with hearing aids, Vortis Technologies has its sights set on a major global market. The Vortis antenna is being sold direct to consumers as an attachment to existing handsets, and the company is talking with major manufacturers about the possibility of building the antenna into their phones.
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Posted by David on Apr 15, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
Sonic Innovations Jumps Into Open-Fit Fray With New High-Performance Ion Hearing Aid Family
Sonic Innovations has jumped into the booming market for comfortable "open-fit" mini behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids with its new Ion Open Ear family, which it touts as the smallest and most powerful in its class. The open-fit phenomenon -- featuring small BTEs with very thin tubes attached to lightweight, one-size-fits-all, open-vented tips inserted deep within the ear canal -- is driving the hearing-aid industry to new growth and profitability. Because they are practically invisible, extremely comfortable, and avoid the fitting problems of both custom in-the-ear and standard BTEs with traditional earmolds, the open-fit designs appeal to baby boomers worried about both cosmetics and comfort. And because they deliver increasingly powerful programmable solutions for high-frequency hearing loss, they hit the sweet spot of today's market: aging baby boomers who are starting to strain to hear the high notes. Sonic Innovations is staking out leadership positions in both performance and size in this fast-growing market with its new Ion family.
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Posted by David on Apr 9, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)
Starkey 'nFusion' Hearing Aids Eliminate Feedback And Automatically Adjust To Acoustic Environment
With its nFusion hearing-aid architecture featured in a new flagship Destiny hearing-aid family, Starkey Laboratories has taken a giant step forward in the digital world. The American hearing-aid leader claims its new platform entirely eliminates feedback while providing improved understanding of speech in noise along with automatic adjustment to different listening environments. With its new Inspire OS fitting software, the Starkey system also makes it easier for audiologists to communicate with patients, discern their specific needs, and fine-tune the programming of the hearing aids to provide the best possible solution for the individual. While it remains to be seen if the Destiny hearing aids will fully live up to these bold promises, the new architecture and extensive R&D investment make it clear that Starkey, traditionally a sales and marketing powerhouse, is also committed to asserting itself as a bona fide technical leader in a global industry dominated by no more than a handful of vertically integrated manufacturers.
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Posted by David on Apr 9, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)
'Listening Post' Email Newsletter From Hearing Mojo Debuts
Today we are introducing "Listening Post," the first email version of Hearing Mojo delivering our latest news and information direct to your inbox. On or about the first and fifteenth of each month we will send our newsletter to subscribers. The stories and ads will provide direct links to the relevant information on Hearing Mojo. This inaugural issue is going out to a select list of friends and family in the hearing loss community and beyond. Feel free to forward it to a friend who may be interested in checking out Hearing Mojo and/or subscribing to "Listening Post."
Posted by David on Apr 2, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
A New Look For Hearing Mojo
I started Hearing Mojo last year to share all the information I'd learned about hearing loss and to invite other people to share their thoughts. The response has been pretty amazing and tells me there's a pent-up demand for better information about ways to cope with hearing loss, especially for information about the wave of new digital and wireless technologies coming on the market. I've spent the last two months working on a new design for HearingMojo.com that will make it easier to connect with people and communicate with them. The new look debuts today and with it comes a renewed sense of purpose. And, now that the time-consuming web-site-building is done, I expect to have new reservoirs of time to pursue the mssion of researching and writing about all the products and technologies that can help hard-of-hearing people, and all the ways people cope with hearing loss.
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Posted by David on Apr 2, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Creative Firm Partners+Simons Gives Us World-Class Treatment
We are pleased and proud to introduce a new look for Hearing Mojo designed by Partners+Simons, a world-class design and interactive firm based in Boston. I first met proprietor Tom Simons more than 25 years ago when we were classmates at Harvard. I don't think I ever saw him without a guitar under his arm, and at the time I was only vaguely aware that his other creative passion was visual arts and graphic design. But he went on to become one of the nation's best-known advertising creative geniuses. Now, it's especially appropriate Tom and his team have designed a site to promote better listening and hearing, because when he is not delivering the world's best creative output, Tom still spends his time making music. His rock-and-roll band, "The Loomers," has its own special mojo: it was a finalist at the 2005 Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame "Battle of the Corporate Bands." Thanks, Tom and team, for a website and email design that finally does justice to the content of HearingMojo.com.
Posted by David on Apr 2, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
Digital Clarity Power From Clarity Products Is Chock-Full Of Digital Signal Processing Performance
Several weeks ago I complained that Clarity Products hadn't adequately explained the enhanced Digital Clarity Power (DCP) technology it was promoting as the latest and greatest innovation for its cordless and amplified telephones. Clarity was quick to answer my questions with comments on the blog post. And now on their website they've unveiled the technical background information they promised. DCP uses a digital signal processing chip and sophisticated algorithms borrowed similar to those found in hearing aids to improve the performance of its amplified phones. DCP has three main features: Multiband Compression, Acoustic Echo Cancellation and Noise Reduction. Multiband compression uses proprietary algorithms to determine what incoming sound is the human voice, then provides more amplification to the voice signals while suppressing other sounds. Acoustic echo cancellation elminates the feedback that happens when amplified signals from the speaker are picked up by the microphone. And noise reduction reduces the hiss, static and background noise found on many connections, which amplified phones often exacerbate. The technology is featured in the company's new amplified Clarity Professional C2210 corded desktop phone and in its new amplified cordless portable phone, the Clarity Professional 4205. Other than the new cordless and corded amplified phones from ClearSounds, I haven't seen any other manufacturers delivering such advanced technology in full-featured office phones for hard-of-hearing consumers. In addition to its updated website, Clarity Products has been turning on the public relations machine. This past week, BusinessWeek magazine featured the Plantronics subsidiary and its new DCP technology in a major feature article.
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Posted by David on Nov 17, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)
