Phonak and Auracast

Thank you @PhilCreighton
Interesting article, I am a big fan of of Phonak, but also one of their fiercest critics… IMO, Phonak will delay the inevitable up until they are forced to capitulate, if not, they will lose way too many customers! I am almost certain that they will have developed Auracast features, for there future hearing aid implementation, I am certain also they would have looked at Auracast, to see if they could get a handle on it, in order to perhaps exploit their customers out of more of their hard earned cash!!! It’s not as if Sonova put out millions in R&D for Roger ALD’s, the American military paid for the Roger’s development, then I believe they asked the US military, if they could use that R&D for their own Roger systems… Now Roger is probably a nice little earner for Phonak, it basically means they can screw extra money out of folks disabilities, especially so, for those in the severe/profound thresholds… Technology improves at breakneck speed, although I use that term loosely with regards to Auracast, it was more like snail pace in its development nonetheless, the Roger cash cow is about to come home to roost, so unfortunately all good things come to an end, so Sonova/Phonak will have to capitulate and corporate greed will have to take a little backseat, till the next development… Cheers Kev

So, as hearing aid users, forced by government regulation to choose between a handful of manufacturers of the devices that we need, should we feel entitled to believe that Sonova and the rest of them should be looking out for the interests of all people with hearing loss? Just a little bit maybe?

In Sonova’s case they put all the things they need for LE Audio in their hearing aids so they can market them as “future-proof” and then not only do they just sit on it but actively talk it down as some far-off pipe-dream.

Are we as a demographic, just too passive? I know the president of the New Zealand hearing loss association is a little bit fired up over this. Maybe more of us should be.

@WhiteHat said:

A Phonak users convention, maybe

The penny dropped for me this morning. It’s the education market they’re trying to protect.

Could be @d_Wooluf

Here in the UK, the Education sector could be worth a small fortune to Phonak, some secondary schools here in the Scottish Highlands have designated teachers for the Deaf, with all kinds of environmental aids, to help educate these kids, usually a classroom or 2, will be converted with soundproofing…Most of this environmental equipment, and Assistive Listening Devices will be Phonak, costing an absolute fortune! There will be thousands of pounds worth in each class, multiply that across the UK, then we are talking many millions of pounds… At one time, most Deaf kids in the UK were boarded at Deaf Schools, that stopped probably more than 60 years ago, when they closed all the Deaf Schools and brought all the Deaf children into the mainstream education system… Cheers Kev

Hum…this may take while. As posted in another thread here, Phonak wants you to buy their Roger stuff.

Roger™ at hand, Auracast on the horizon: What audiologists need to know |...27

Understanding the realities of Auracast and the ongoing importance of Roger technology for hearing aid users today.

I have several generations of Phonaks, and I recently purchased a set of ReSounds because they did a much better job of quieting ambient noise than Infinio Spheres—at least for ME. Happily I found that ReSounds have Auracast built in. We are scheduled to have Auracast transmitters installed in our meeting rooms next week. That would be my first trial of Auracast in action. I believe that Costco’s Jabra Enhance HAs also have Auracast built in. I’m not aware that any other brands have integrated Auracast into their products. I’ll report back about my experience with Auracast where I live. Oh, shame on Phonak! They are scoring own goals.

Our local theatre has recently installed new technology that has been a game changer for me. I don’t have the latest phone (Google pixel 6), or hearing aids (Oticon More 1 with 1.4.5 firmware), nevertheless, easily connected to the audio stream via their app. More on the hearing assistive technology at https://www.bettear.com16

Cochlear is embracing Auracast, it is already in some of its range.

I have an interview with them coming soon.

@Raudrive (20 characters necessary).

Cochlear has stated the N8 is LE Audio ready some time ago. I believe the K3 is the same.

I am looking forward to this for sure. Getting hands free phone calls will be great again after having it with Phonak years ago.

Comments on the Audiology article appear to be closed. Is there somewhere else we can send “love letters” ??

WH

That reply was buttery smooth. Maybe we could do a poll and @AbramBaileyAuD could post the results on LinkedIn. They would definitely see it there.

What kind of poll …..

One where Phonakians can share their “love” of LE audio with Auracast and why Sonova should follow through with what they told everyone at the beginning.