23/07/2010 by John Lloyd.

New Hearing Aid Technology - Integrated Warning Alerts

Have you ever missed a phone call or someone at the door whilst in the garden? Ever been worried about not hearing the smoke alarm?

Unitron have developed the first fully integrated hearing aid alert system that connects wirelessly to various detectors around the house that send audible signals directly into the wearers hearing aids via a remote control device which is carried by the wearer.

This package will not be for everyone, but for those interested in reading more please click this link - Unitron Smart Alert

Click this link for more information on current Unitron Hearing Aids

Prices on application as not confirmed yet.

Crystal Hearing

0800 077 8248

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17/07/2010 by John Lloyd.

Excellent news - Phonak have upgraded their TV Adaptor to eliminate lip sync delay.

The TV adaptor is used in conjunction with the iCom and doubles up as a charger.

Benefits of the new adaptor:

1. Stereo sound

2. Extremely short transmission delay

3. Range of up to 30 meters, allowing you to walk around and still hear the TV

4. Plug and play simple to operate

5. Seperate volume adjustments

Price to be confirmed, but item can be posted and used staright away.

Contact - Crystal Hearing

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17/07/2010 by John Lloyd.

If you struggle with using a mobile phone whilst wearing hearing aids you should consider the Nokia Neckloop

The new Nokia Bluetooth neckloop system can be used with ANY Bluetooth enabled mobile phone but must be used with hearing aids that have a telecoil loop programme (the T setting).

Main benefits are:

1. Binaural listening - hear the speaker in both ears

2. The sound is transferred direct to the hearing aids

3. Total elimination of background noise

We can supply these but you may find them cheaper doing your own search.

Contact - Crystal Hearing

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07/06/2010 by John Lloyd.

The Doro PhoneEasy 409 - for hearing aid wearers who struggle with mobile phones.

i.e. Problems hearing clearly or just finding mobile phones too fiddly to use.

The Doro PhoneEasy 409 mobile phone is proving to be an excellent solution for many hearing aid wearers. This mobile phone is simple to use, with large buttons, but more importantly it is compatible with hearing aids Telecoil programs meaning the signal is sent directly into the hearing aid. Thus avoiding the difficulty of having to line up the hearing aid microphone and the phone speaker. This phone comes highly recommended.

To read more or buy a Dorophone please click here - Doro PhoneEasy 409

(Note: This is not our recommended site to buy from. Please do your own research on prices)

Hearing aids    Hearing Aids    Hearing Aids

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06/04/2010 by John Lloyd.

ARE YOU RECYCLING YOUR HEARING AID BATTERIES?

Amongst the 600 million batteries ending up in landfill every year, 50 million are hearing aid batteries! Both these figures are unacceptable and are well behind the rest of Europe. Please do your part to help reduce this.

Rayovac has now signed up with one of the largest recycling schemes in the UK called ‘Battery Back’.

‘Battery Back’ now has 3000 collection points for batteries, including your hearing aid batteries, and we urge you to use these collection points, or to save your hearing aid batteries and hand them to your dispenser so that he/she can dispose of them accordingly. This is vital for the batteries that contain mercury, as the mercury eventually leaks back into the soil and can ultimately enter our water system and food chain. Mercury is highly poisonous and destroys our vital organs and nerve tissue.

To find your closest collection point visit:

http://www.wastecare.co.uk/battery/

More info at:

www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/sectors/sustainability/batteries/page30610.html

Mercury Free Hearing Aid Batteries - only £1.80 per pack

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22/02/2010 by John Lloyd.

There are two issues here. 1. Raising awareness to the new mercury free batteries now being supplied by Rayovac, and 2. Ethical disposal of your hearing aid batteries.

Most batteries have until now contained some level of mercury within them, which means that careless disposal of these batteries will eventually lead to the mercury being leaked into the soil. This mercury then gets into our water and food chain and is ingested by us all! Mercury is a highly toxic substance which damages the brain, kidneys and lungs. Symptoms ironically can include hearing impairment; so a viscous cycle for those who have a hearing loss and who don’t consider the implications of where they discard their batteries!

Rayovac now supply mercury free hearing aid batteries which after considerable development are now providing equivalent lifespan of the mercury batteries. It is in the interest of us ALL to use products that DON’T contain mercury, but as with everything these new batteries are slightly more expensive due to the development costs involved.

At Crystal Hearing we already offer a price on our batteries that is barely profitable so we cannot bear this additional cost.

We can supply ‘Rayovac Mercury Free Extra Advanced’ batteries in all sizes for a discount price of £18 per 60 cells

(Click here for the Rayovac website)

There is a new European Batteries Directive being implemented from the 1st February that requires the UK to recycle 25% of portable batteries by 2012. So please help us to do our bit and either dispose of your batteries at your local tip (or any other appropriate recycling point) or if you cannot do this then please save them in a pot/bag and give them to your dispenser so he/she can dispose of them accordingly.

Click here for the our other Hearing Aid Batteries web page.

We now supply ‘mercury free’ Rayovac Hearing Aid Batteries for only £1.80 / pack

(This price is for Blog subscribers - normal price is £2 / pack)

Crystal Hearing

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28/07/2009 by John Lloyd.

For use with the latest Bluetooth Hearing Aids, I recommend the Siemens Gigaset SL565 DECT phone.

(DECT = Digitally Enhanced Cordless Telephone)

Also recommended by Channel 5’s ‘The Gadget Show’ - read their review here

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 Hearing Aids

Posted in Siemens, Accessories, Blogroll | 2 Comments »

25/07/2009 by John Lloyd.

Here is a new hearing seminar video by Phonak about their Bluetooth wireless hearing aid accessories.

http://www.hearingseminars.com/dwajune09

 To understand more about ‘Bluetooth’ click these link:

Wikipedia definition

Crystal Hearing Bluetooth Page

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14/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

Here’s a great new development from Phonak I feel you should all know about - The click-and-talk is a device that has been created to work in unison with Sony Ericsson mobile phones and is a simple plug-in adapter which operates similar to the Phonak ‘duo-phone’ feature; i.e. when the phone is held close to the hearing aid (within 25cm) the adaptor triggers a programme switch in the hearing aid (utilising the Bluetooth/headset programme) and simultaneously sends the audio signal to the other ear - so the user now gets binaural listening on the telephone. This is a godsend for people on the move with a serious need for clear mobile phone communication. This feature can onlybe used with the current portfolio of Phonak hearing aids that incorporate binaural synchronization technology.

Further reading found on Phonak’s website - click here

More information on Phonak Hearing Aid Accessories and Hearing Aids - Click Here

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14/06/2009 by John Lloyd.

Here is a new feature by Phonak - ‘duo-phone’  - which makes listening on your mobile phone much clearer. This is an extension to the feature ‘auto-phone’, which has been around now for several years, which is activated when a phone handset is held near to the hearing aid and the electromagnetic field in the handset triggers a programme change to a separate ‘phone’ setting (giving more mid-range amplification as telephones tend to shift the high frequencies to the mid-range). The new duo-phone not only switches the programme but simultaneously sends the audio signal to the other hearing aid!! So now phone users get binaural listening. Any hearing aid wearer who has gone from wearing one hearing aid to wearing two will tell you how much more benefit hearing with both ears gives.  Also, as an extra benefit we can reduce the volume of the hearing aid microphones, so if you are using your phone in a busy environment such as an office workplace, the background noise is attenuated whilst you are on the phone! This feature is proving invaluable for hearing aid wearers who really struggle on the phone or depend on the telephone for communication purpose.

The RNID sell phones which have a good magnetic induction strength such as the CL1100 (stock code T359)

Here is an audible demonstraton of Duo-Phone - Click here (please turn the volume up on your PC)

See also ‘click-and-talk’ by Phonak which allows the same with mobile phones

More information on all hearing aids and our discounts - click here

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Hearing Aids

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