BALLERUP, DENMARK – In news that will be of special interest to hearing aid users who use Android phones, GN Hearing and Google have announced their partnership on technology that will offer the “full spectrum of direct audio streaming from Android devices to hearing aids”. This will make GN Hearing the first manufacturer to provide this Android capability, one that was previously only available to iPhone users.
According to a news release by GN Hearing and Google, which quotes Seang Chau, Vice President of Engineering at Google, and Anders Hedegaard, CEO of GN Hearing, the new technology eliminates the need for an intermediate device to connect users to their Android product. It is expected that people with hearing loss who use the recently launched ReSound LiNX Quattro and Beltone Amaze will soon benefit from the technology that will make it easier to use the phone and listen to music and podcasts. Etc.
Google has published the new hearing aid specification for Android smartphones: Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) on Bluetooth Low Energy Connection-Oriented Channels.
The first hearing aid manufacturer to be able to utilize the new specification is GN Hearing, but other hearing aid manufacturers will be able to build native hearing aid support for Android.
Update: In September, 2019, Google officially released Android 10 software, for the first time offering Made for Android streaming capability to hearing aids. The first phones to offer the new feature will be Google’s Pixel phones. GN and Cochlear will be the first hearing device manufacturers to offer the feature.
Source: GN Hearing, Google
“This will make GN Hearing the first manufacturer to provide this Android capability, one that was previously only available to iPhone users.” **Actually, Unitron’s Moxi All connects with all phones without the need for a streaming device!**
Using streaming on a regular basis will enhance microwave radiation that may lead to formation of temporal bone tumors, besides enhancing hearing loss progressively. We do know that the reckless use of streaming is being done by patients, who would rather spend sedentary time watching TV, rather than take an exercise walk to improve blood flow and nutritional flow to the gray matter in their brains and enhance cognitive efficiency.
Bad idea GN !