The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association advised consumers to be “smart shoppers” when buying over-the-counter hearing aids this holiday season, the first since the Food and Drug Administration’s rule establishing them as a regulatory category took effect in October (see 2210170052). Noting excitement among consumers about availability of OTC versions, “especially since many people have delayed getting help because hearing aids were out of reach financially," Donna Smiley, ASHA chief staff officer-audiology, said Thursday it's "important to make an informed decision.” OTC hearing aids “still come with a considerable price tag,” she said. OTC hearing aids are intended for use by adults with “self-perceived mild to moderate hearing loss,” ASHA said, saying people with hearing loss beyond mild to moderate “are not candidates for these products” and could suffer harm by not using them properly. ASHA recommends anyone buying an OTC product get a hearing evaluation from a certified audiologist. OTC hearing aids have no mandated trial period or return window, which ASHA said is a difference between them and most prescription hearing aids obtained from an audiologist. The return policy must be printed on the packaging, it said. Shoppers should look for the terms “OTC” and “hearing aid” on labels “so they don’t fall victim to scammers that try to make non-hearing aid products (such as simple sound amplifiers) appear as OTC hearing aids,” it said.
Wearables’ capabilities will continue to expand in coming years as the smartwatch market matures, and alternative form factors could draw consumers away from handsets, said IDTechEx Friday. The wearables category is being driven by demand for more data, it said. True wireless headphones’ location near the brain could give advanced earphones an advantage, with brain signal readings capable of quantifying stress levels, sleep quality and emotional state. Challenges for an in-ear solution include miniaturization of electronics and noise cancellation, said the report. The development of augmented reality headsets and smart glasses could one day make the smartphone “redundant,” it said: “Wearable biometrics will likely follow if society switches to headgear for messaging, web browsing and gaming.” Since AR/VR headsets already use motion sensors and cameras for eye-tracking, they could also integrate dry electrodes across the forehead to collect heart rate data and measure neural signals, the report said. The main hurdle facing earphones and headsets is balancing data access with visualization and social acceptance, IDTechEx said. The market has much more room for new players, materials and innovation, it said.
Google is adding a sleep feature to Pixel Watch next week, the company blogged Tuesday. Using the premium sleep feature, Pixel Watch users can view their monthly sleep analysis in the Fitbit app, which covers 10 sleep aspects, including schedule variability, time before sound sleep, disrupted sleep and other elements, the company said. To receive a monthly sleep profile, users have to sleep with their device on for 14 calendar days. Fitbit Premium is $9.99 monthly or $79 per year. The sleep feature is also available on select Fitbit devices.
CTA and the National Sleep Foundation released “ANSI/CTA/NSF-2052.1-A Definitions and Characteristics for Wearable Sleep Monitors,” an update to a standard published in 2016 that defines terms and functionality for sleep measuring devices, they said Friday. The updated standard defines terms for describing sleep states and the functionality requirements for devices measuring sleep behavior. The standard focuses exclusively on consumer products, not medical devices, they said.
Sharp launched a 2.13-inch color memory-in-pixel LCD module for wearable and handheld devices. The LS021B7DD02 display delivers static or moving images in QVGA resolution and 64 colors, the company said Thursday. It’s capable of displaying 18 frame-per-second content and can be used in “always-on” products that show data at a glance without the need to power on the device, the company said.
Sony announced Wednesday availability of its first over-the-counter hearing aids (see 2209130010) for the U.S. market. The CRE-C10 ($999, October) and CRE-E10 ($1,299, winter) self-fitting hearing aids, developed with WS Audiology, are said to intuitively adapt to users’ speech and surroundings. Users personalize settings using Sony’s hearing control app, available at Google Play and the App Store. Interoperability and compatibility with Bluetooth devices vary, Sony said. The company’s goal with the hearables is to “break down the current barriers faced by those with signs of mild to moderate hearing loss and provide a simple, app-enabled, do-it-yourself solution that can allow for a better hearing experience,” it said. Sony highlighted the hearing aids’ small size and 70-hour battery life.
Wearables users are increasingly open to switching brands, reported IDC Tuesday, saying 54% of smart earware users are willing to swap brands, and 42.2% for smartwatch and fitness tracker owners. That's an opportunity and a challenge for wearables makers, said analyst Ramon Llamas, saying companies have to deliver “best-in-class devices and experiences at appealing price points that both attain and retain customers.” Reasons consumers would switch for a different watch brand are better battery life (40.3%), lower cost (39.4%) and integration with other devices (30%), IDC said. They would switch smart earwear brands for better battery life (56.3%), comfort (50.8%) and fit (39.8%), the report said. "Battery life has long been a challenge for wearables," Llamas said. Users don’t like to have to charge a wearable every day or every other day, but it’s a “standard that consumers have come to accept,” he said. Though faster charging helps, getting multiple days of use from a single charge would not only be ideal, but it would also be a reason to switch brands."
Wearables shipments in Q2 slid 6.9% worldwide to 107.4 million due to rising inflation, recession fears and increased spending on other product categories, reported IDC Monday. Rising prices and “cooling demand” caused a lower outlook for the year, which IDC pegs at a flat 535.5 million units. Four of the top vendors had declines in the quarter, IDC said, as smaller brands continue to target lower price points in the category, pressuring average selling prices for the market leaders. "It's unfortunate that companies like Apple, Samsung, and Google are in the midst of launching more premium smartwatches at a time when appetite for high priced products remains in question," said analyst Jitesh Ubrani. Apple had 25% market share in Q2, IDC said. Ubrani said the strength of the U.S. dollar makes consumer spending more difficult in local currencies throughout the world. While down, the wearables market “is certainly not out,” said analyst Ramon Llamas. "As the wearables market takes slow steps towards maturity, it will eventually reckon the ebbs and flows between the record-breaking volumes we saw during the pandemic and what we see today,” Llamas said, predicting a slower upward pace as consumers look for replacement products and the number of new users declines. Growth is expected to return next year on demand for smartwatches and hearables for new buyers in emerging markets and replacement shoppers in mature markets, said the research firm.
Sony is partnering with WS Audiology Denmark to develop and supply over-the-counter self-fitting hearing aids, beginning in the U.S., the companies said Tuesday. They will combine their respective technological and medical expertise to create products “that will shape this new field,” the companies said. Sony will bring audio and product miniaturization capabilities, its brand and its consumer sales and service infrastructure; WSA brings its hearing aid technology and distribution in the professional channel, they said. Their goal is to bring to market OTC hearing aids that can be used “naturally and comfortably,” for purchase “more easily and by all people,” and with easy-to-use personalization features, they said. The collaboration comes nearly a month after the FDA published its final rule, effective Oct. 17, establishing a category of OTC hearing aids for consumers with mild to moderate hearing loss for purchase at a pharmacy or online without the need for a visit to an audiologist (see 2208170033). Details of the first product, including price, will be released closer to the yet-to-be-announced launch, said Sony and WSA.
“Continuous growth” in the wearables market is expected through 2027, following a demand slowdown in 2021 “due to economic and geopolitical factors impacting consumers' priorities,” reported ABI Research Thursday. More than 300 million wearables devices were shipped by the end of 2021 and will reach around 344 million by the end of this year, said ABI. It projects that more than 650 million wearables devices will be shipped globally by 2027, based on a 13.2% compound annual growth rate the next five years. Health and wellness trackers and “smart home-enabled smartwatches” are the two segments that will drive most of the growth, said ABI, crediting strong demand for the Apple Watch and “the growing number of companies offering smartwatches with impressive functionalities.”