Not before time, Resound Announces New Product Launch
It seems like I have been waiting for this forever, Resound have announced the launch of their new product finally. The word was we would see it at the end of April and the word was right. The official launch in the United Kingdom is at the end of April and we will learn more about the devices then. However, the press release has some tantalizing details. Unfortunately it doesn't mention any health tracking capabilities, which I was excited about the possibility of. However, what it does talk about is good enough, let's dive into the official announcement.
Resound are now firmly seen as one of the very best hearing aid brands. So, they have announced what they are calling the revolutionary ReSound LiNX 3D™. They say that it will take Smart Hearing to new levels to enable people with hearing loss to hear more, do more and be more anywhere in life. So that is the hyperbole over, let's take a look at what we know about the advances.
A New Hearing Care Experience
Tele health has been a major factor recently in the hearing aid world, Signia in particular have gone all out with it with some success. With the launch of the new platform GN Resound is bringing tele health to GN products for the first time ever. In essence, they think that it will bring convenience and efficiency for both you the user and the professional that fits them. I would tend to agree, but it depends on the amount of power that a tele health system offers.
They say that their new hearing care solution offers remote fine-tuning and remote hearing aid updates enabled by GN’s proprietary and secure cloud solution. What is interesting here is that they say the hearing care professional can make all fine-tunings remotely to provide a better hearing experience for the user and it delivers complete remote fine-tuning capabilities that allows users to stay in touch with their hearing care professional wherever they are, receiving hearing care and getting new settings via the cloud without having to schedule and travel for a clinic appointment.
This would indicate to me that the fine tuning capability must be pretty powerful and all encompassing. They also said that only after an initial fit in the clinic, the user can request assistance for any fine-tuning of their settings wherever they are. Of course to deliver all of this, there has to be an app that allows communication between the User and the professional which also facilitates the fine tuning capabilities.
ReSound LiNX 3D is the only device with complete remote fine-tuning capabilities that allows users to stay in touch with their hearing care professional wherever they are, receiving hearing care and getting new settings via the cloud without having to schedule and travel for a clinic appointment.
That App I was Talking About
A new app will allow users to easily personalize and control their sound at any time on-the-go directly from a smartphone (iPhone, Apple Watch and selected Android models). The app empowers users to take even more control of their hearing experience through a built-in guidance and coaching feature, and gives users direct access to their hearing care professional for efficient optimization without the need for an appointment in a clinic.
Sound Quality Improvements
All of the manufacturers lately have gone mad with percentages, Resound is no different. They have updated their 2.4 GHz wireless technology (on it's fifth version) and their binaural directionality (3rd version). This is in fact an underlying part of the naming of the devices, LiNX 3D. They say that the upgrades will deliver clear, natural sound, exceptional speech understanding and the best sense of where sounds are coming from. It will deliver what they are calling 360-degree audibility and awareness in quiet and speech-only situations, improved hearing in noise when speech is in the front and optimized audibility of surrounding sounds. Hence 3D. the figures on improvement are:
- is up to 50% better at identifying speech across various environments
- enables users to hear up to 80% more of the sounds around them, and
- enables users to understand up to 40% more speech in noise
Exciting Times
The capabilities they are talking about are pretty exciting, I mean full control remote fine tuning is a bit of a dream for me. It would mean that I could get real time feedback from a user while fine tuning is undertaken remotely. Something which means real benefit for users and more importantly convenience.
Like I said, no word on integrated health tracking but it was just a dream of mine. Maybe next time? The launch to the UK and Irish market is at the end of April, when the full details come out, we will let you know. You can read the full GN statement below. You can take a look at all of the latest Resound hearing aids here.
Unmatched Sound Quality – Efficient Fitting – Ground-breaking Remote Fine-Tuning
GN News
Apr 03, 2017
Announcing ReSound LiNX 3D™: GN Pioneers a New Hearing Care Experience
Today, GN Hearing unveiled the revolutionary ReSound LiNX 3D™, taking Smart Hearing to new levels to enable people with hearing loss to hear more, do more and be more anywhere in life.
GN Hearing’s comprehensive ecosystem seamlessly connects hearing aids, all wireless accessories and smartphone apps to make everything work together. With the introduction of ReSound LiNX 3D and the ReSound Smart Fit™ software, an entirely new hearing care experience is made possible. These breakthroughs are developed with audiological insights and the latest advancements in technology to bring more convenience and efficiency than ever before.
The new hearing care solution offers remote fine-tuning and remote hearing aid updates enabled by GN’s proprietary and secure cloud solution. After an initial fit in the clinic, the user can request assistance for any fine-tuning of their settings wherever they are. The hearing care professional can make all fine-tunings remotely to provide a better hearing experience for the user.
The new ReSound LiNX 3D and the corresponding Beltone Trust™ hearing aids and the new cloud integration offer unprecedented benefits to hearing aid users and to hearing care professionals across three key dimensions:
Sound Quality – hear more than you ever thought possible
With ReSound LiNX 3D – GN Hearing’s 5th generation 2.4 GHz wireless technology and 3rd generation binaural directionality – hearing aid users will experience excellent sound quality and will hear more than they ever thought possible. ReSound LiNX 3D delivers clear, natural sound, exceptional speech understanding and the best sense of where sounds are coming from. Users will experience 360-degree audibility and awareness in quiet and speech-only situations, improved hearing in noise when speech is in the front and optimized audibility of surrounding sounds.
Studies* show that compared to premium hearing aids from competitive brands, ReSound LiNX 3D:
- is up to 50% better at identifying speech across various environments
- enables users to hear up to 80% more of the sounds around them, and
- enables users to understand up to 40% more speech in noise
An enhanced fitting experience
Together with audiologists, GN Hearing has developed a more efficient and intuitive fitting software, which simplifies the process where the hearing care professional fits and adjusts the hearing aid to the user. This faster and more convenient wireless fitting will save time for both the user and the hearing care professional. This gives hearing care professionals more time for valuable user counselling. Also, a new app allows users to easily personalize and control their sound at any time on-the-go directly from a smartphone (iPhone, Apple Watch and selected Android models). The app empowers users to take even more control of their hearing experience through a built-in guidance and coaching feature, and gives users direct access to their hearing care professional for efficient optimization without the need for an appointment in a clinic.
Hearing care wherever you are
ReSound LiNX 3D is the only device with complete remote fine-tuning capabilities that allows users to stay in touch with their hearing care professional wherever they are, receiving hearing care and getting new settings via the cloud without having to schedule and travel for a clinic appointment. The unique cloud integration enables hearing care professionals to stay connected with users no matter where they are. Users will be able to share feedback about any hearing difficulty as the situation occurs, rather than trying to remember how to describe it during an adjustment visit to the clinic. Hearing care professionals will have the freedom to offer follow-up services remotely – saving time for both hearing care professionals and users, and creating opportunities for even higher user satisfaction.
“GN Hearing is thrilled to introduce a quantum leap in sound technologies that will enable users to hear more than they ever thought possible. We are excited to deliver completely new dimensions in hearing care that all leads to a better hearing experience for the user and empowers the hearing care professional to better serve their clients. ReSound LiNX 3D transforms the hearing care industry, meets the modern user’s high demands for superb sound quality and fulfils our company purpose of making life sound better,” said Anders Hedegaard, CEO of GN Hearing.
ReSound LiNX 3D – and the corresponding Beltone Trust™ – will launch in all primary markets around the world with a full product family in the Top and Plus performance levels. GN Hearing’s 2017 guidance already included the ReSound LiNX 3D launch.
