GN has just released Beltone Serene hearing aids which it says are the industry’s first hearing aids to connect to Bluetooth LE Audio and revolutionary new Auracast broadcast audio while also supporting existing connectivity options such as hands-free calls for iPhone, iPad and one-way Android streaming.
GN says the Beltone Serene was specifically designed to assist hearing in even the noisiest of situations, allowing people to focus on what others are saying and hear with confidence in any setting.
“These weatherproof and sweatproof hearing aids are designed for everyday life and seamlessly connect to the wearer’s favourite devices,” GN says. “Beltone Serene offers a range of tiny and comfortable styles for mild to profound hearing loss, comprising the clearest streamed sound with the lowest latency and battery consumption for all-day streaming.”
Auracast broadcast audio, a new Bluetooth capability, is the next generation of assistive listening technology in hearing aids, everyday consumer audio devices and public spaces. It’s believed the technology will transform access to audio by enabling hearing-impaired people – and even the hearing-enabled – to share audio with family or friends listening at home to television or music from a smartphone, tablet or PC.
Importantly, in public spaces, it enables hearing aid users and those with normal hearing to connect directly to live audio in airports, train stations, theatres, bars, waiting rooms, stadiums, schools, conferences, lectures, and anywhere audio is broadcast.
Auracast creates new possibilities for streaming audio in public and private places and enhances the way people interact with others and the world around them. It’s predicted that by 2027, three billion Bluetooth LE Audio devices will be connected to Auracast.
Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) explains that its Bluetooth LE Audio is the first new Bluetooth technology in two decades and until now there’s been no standardised Bluetooth protocol for hearing aid streaming. LC3 is the new standard codec for audio transmission for all products using Bluetooth LE Audio, developed with the consumer electronics industry and hearing aid manufacturers. It will result in significantly fewer compatibility limitations.
When codecs were not optimised for hearing aids, hearing aid manufacturers developed and added their own proprietary protocols, leading to connection issues across different manufacturers, and consistent compatibility between hearing system firmware, smartphone operating systems and Bluetooth protocols could not be guaranteed.
Support the next 20 years of audio broadcasting
Mr Chuck Sabin, senior director of market development at Bluetooth SIG, says the new framework and flexible architecture of Bluetooth LE will support the next 20 years of audio innovation.
“Bluetooth LE enables higher sound quality at lower power enabling devices to have longer battery life in one charge,” Sabin told the Future of Hearing Healthcare 2023 virtual conference. “It offers better performing products, greater availability of Bluetooth hearing aids with new standardisation, multistream for binaural hearing aids, global interoperability and multi-language support between devices and Auracast broadcast audio.”
GN offers an Auracast-supported TV-Streamer+ for clear TV audio streaming, with improved speech understanding compared to standard TV speakers, allowing people with Auracast-compatible smartphones, headphones, earbuds and hearing aids to tune in for shared listening.
GN philosophy is its ‘Organic Hearing’ approach that “sounds natural, feels natural and connects people naturally to the world”, and the company says 89% of users recommend Beltone Serene for hearing in noise.1
“With a 150% improvement in speech understanding in noise compared to legacy products,2 and industry-best access to surrounding sound (compared to other premium brands with 4-microphone binaural beamforming or advanced noise management3), Beltone Serene offers an outstanding listening experience that lets clients focus on what’s important to them,” GN says.
The Beltone Serene range offers – among other hearing aid models – the industry’s smallest rechargeable RIE4 with all-day power and latest sound technology for hearing in noise, and smallest wireless RIE CROS device. Beltone Serene features include a ‘Hear in Noise’ program in the Beltone Hear Max app – empowering people to take control of their hearing aids directly from their smart devices.
Feedback management, low frequency boost, directionality, environment recognition and speech intelligibility in noise are among other features, in addition to TapControl on the ear or one hearing aid to answer calls, and new fitting options in the Beltone Solus Max fitting software to tailor onboarding and achieve best fit.
Sabin, from Bluetooth SIG, gave Mr Andrew Bellavia, an American thought leader in hearables and hearing health, a demonstration of Auracast at the EUHA congress in 2023.
Bellavia said, in a Hearing Health and Technology matters video at the congress, that Auracast has the potential to transmit to an unlimited number of devices in range. It would also change the way people interpreted the world as everyone, not just the hearing-impaired, could unmute what’s occurring around them.
“Users can connect to silent TVs everywhere, announcements at airports or train stations and hear better in noisy environments. The three uses are personal – with friends and family, in multichannel environments such as a sports bar, and single channel venues such as conferences,” he said.
For more information about the Beltone portfolio, visit gnhearing.com
References:
1. End-user NPS rating. Data on file (2023.)
2. 4.36 dB SNR improvement compared to legacy products. Jespersen & Groth (2022)
3. Compared to other premium brands with 4-microphone binaural beam.
4. Data on file, (2023).
