Comments for Refined Designer // Casual, inspired, creative.

Comment on Bluetooth Hearing Aids | Phone & Music by Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 02:08:43 +0000

I am a hearing aid user who recently had a problem with the powerone batteries (size 13 , 1.5V @ 310 mAh) the whole 60 in the Case seem defective ! Then I order another 60 from them and now am having the same problem , especially when I use the icom with my iPod touch via Bluetooth ,some batteries last a few minutes ….Any sugestions? Maybe it’s my hearing aids ? They’re 4 years old

Comment on Bluetooth Hearing Aids | Phone & Music by Rev Wazoo

Rev Wazoo — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 14:28:54 +0000

Hi,

Sounds like many here would have valuable input and perhaps interest in the device/ connection of devices I’m interested in.

issue: an audiologist will certainly help pick the right hearing aid for you but still has to average all the sound situations you will be in. Simple volume presets are insufficient as different environments present different challenges and really require different filtering and boosting.

I want a hearing aid with an adjustable equalizer on which I can save, say, 10 presets which work best for me in various situations from crowded restaurants with clattering silverware to booming ocean surf to crowded pub hubbub. I could select one I’ve saved or fine-tune the equalizer on the spot to current circumstances.

This is where smartphones’ pre-processing of audio should come in and indeed I’ve stumbled across something might be a start though haven’t tried it yet.

SoundAmp (iPhone app)
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10281062-233.html
claims to do some of this though only to your earphones. It says it also includes instant playback of 5 to 30 seconds as well. If it could also transmit to your hearing aid then we’d be most of the way there.

Anyone tried SoundAmp? If so, is it also possible to send it to a hearing aid?

Then, with my phone on the table in front of me in restaurant or pub, or on my belt/in waistcoat pocket/shoulder strap etc when standing (or, indeed, plug in a microphone and clip it to me where best able to pick-up the voice of the people I’m talking with) I could utilize all the processing power and adjustability of an iphone (a small computer built for audio processing after all) which a hearing aid by itself will never rival.

Any thoughts and info would be welcome.
Thanks

Comment on Bluetooth Hearing Aids | Phone & Music by audiologist

audiologist — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 11:13:13 +0000

Wow, that’s really cool. I knew the technology was coming; I didn’t know it was here yet. I agree that it’s a shame that health insurance doesn’t cover hearing aids. (I’ve worn them since I was 2 and I’m 30 now. I feel your frustration. I have several people in my life who struggle with hearing loss, which can make it difficult to communicate. The only advice I can give you is to go to an audiologist who will help pick the right hearing aid for your cousin’s level of hearing loss. I own the Phonic Exelia and absolutely love it. In fact, I’m currently listening to music at work. Through my computer speakers on Pandora.com, which is connected to my iCom through an audio cable? Talk about convenience! Best of luck, Marguerite.

Comment on Oreo Cookie Cake Pan by jo

jo — Fri, 27 May 2011 17:58:58 +0000

I love this…it looks like a perfect copy of a little oreo biscuit.

This would look great at a party, on the buffet table..a real talking point

Comment on Bluetooth Hearing Aids | Phone & Music by Bluetooth and Hearing Aids » Glenna Mendez

Bluetooth and Hearing Aids » Glenna Mendez — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 21:33:26 +0000

[...] Bluetooth Hearing Aids Phone My entire life I’ve had hearing aids and I’m only 22. So, no, hearing aids are not just for the elderly. When I was younger, I believed my hearing aids were something to be … [...]

Comment on Orange Peeler Art by 17 креативных тёрок и чистилок для овощей

17 креативных тёрок и чистилок для овощей — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:25:17 +0000

[...] При помощи этого инструмента можно не только очищать фрукты, но и делать красивые [...]

Comment on Bluetooth Hearing Aids | Phone & Music by deejayq

deejayq — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 07:49:19 +0000

I hope I’m not too late to respond to “Colin” from the UK, who posted last April. I only just found this forum the other day. But my comment is to confirm for him and everyone reading that calling these or any hearing aids currently on the market (Feb. 2011) “bluetooth compatible” is something of a marketing ploy and is technically incorrect. NO current hearing aids have true bluetooth reception and processing built into the hearing aid itself. That means yes: they require the Phonak iCom or similar devices. Just today, I attended a “free Lunch & Learn event” sponsored by Oticon and my local audiologist, where I quizzed the Oticon rep on this very question. She says it will be quite some time yet before they will be able to build bluetooth into hearing aids directly: if they could do it today, she said, the h-aids would be as large as your fist and could no longer fit behind your ear, let alone inside them. I find that characterization equally hyperbolic, as today’s bluetooth receivers for hearing aids (like this iCom, for example) are already much smaller than your fist. But whatever. On the other hand, my audiologist informs me that another brand of hearing aids, Starkey (which, before today, I had never heard of) ARE apparently working on putting bluetooth right inside the h-aid and could be first-to-market with them before the end of this year. So there ya go. I suppose we must all be patient and see what Starkey, or Phonak or Oticon or whomever come out with next. Hope this helps!

Comment on Bluetooth Hearing Aids | Phone & Music by Karen Cristanelli

Karen Cristanelli — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 22:48:32 +0000

Is there any way to get the land line phones @ my job thru my bluetooth hearing aide @ work?? Please help I’m afraid I will lose my job and I can’t here on the phones I am suppose to answer. These are on a rotary system and I am no the only perosn answering these lines.

Comment on Arial vs. Helvetica by fussy typographer

fussy typographer — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 23:26:00 +0000

You neglected to mention where the inspiration for Helvetica itself came from. Namely, Aksidens Grotesk: designed in 1895. Helvetica was created in the 1950s.

Comment on Bluetooth Hearing Aids | Phone & Music by R3

R3 — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 17:31:56 +0000

Dan,

Thanks for the “person who uses them” review. Agreed to the point of saying it out loud when you mentioned the problems of TV watching. Beyond the simple frustration issues, I’m perplexed as to the way the hard of hearing & deaf communities are outright ignored by seemingly every video manufacturer.

For over a year I’ve been dealing with issues concerning lack of captioning on several setups; I discovered a short time back that HDMI cabling does not carry CC coding — it was just plain left out of the specs, according to what I’ve read. That dumbfounds me that something so critical could be so blatantly overlooked. I guess no one with hearing issues is on the committee.

There’s also the issue of subtitling; I’d really like to see an amendment to the ADA that states that no video product can be sold in the USA without a true subtitle track. (I know that’s a can of worms, because I’m only thinking of English subtitles, and we’re quite the melting pot in terms of language. Maybe that’s why it hasn’t been tackled yet.)

A&E video is the worst offender; they sell a lot of BBC-origin programming in the US. They do not offer subtitles on the great majority of these releases. I once called them about it; their operator was quite rude, asking me how I could call her on the telephone if I was deaf? This was followed by the question that, if I wasn’t deaf, what did I need subtitles for?

FWIW, Acorn Media now has the release rights to several of the series A&E used to sell, and they are slowly releasing new sets with SDH (subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired).