Sonic Innovations Reports Strong 2008 Sales Growth

Sonic Innovations announced strong sales growth for its fiscal year while acknowledging the recession’s impact on the industry with a sharp drop-off in fourth-quarter sales.

Rayovac Parent Spectrum Brands Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

Spectrum Brands, parent of hearing-aid battery maker Rayovac as well as other well-known consumer product brands including Remington electric razors, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after failing to make a scheduled debt payment.

Opinion: NBC and NFL Join Super Bowl Closed Captioning Hall of Shame

Last night’s Super Bowl telecast was great, not just because the game was exciting, but also because it appeared that more ads than ever were broadcast with closed captions. How ironic, then, that the NFL and NBC themselves failed to caption their own in-house promotional ads broadcast on the show!

NXP Semiconductor to Deliver Low-Power Wireless Chips for Phonak Bluetooth Hearing-Aid Platform

NXP, the independent semiconductor company founded by Philips, said it will develop a single-chip, ultra-low-power radio for use in hearing systems developed in collaboration with Phonak.

Phonak Audeo YES Hearing Aids Provide Wireless Connection to MP3 and Bluetooth Devices

Phonak has long touted its Audeo hearing aids as having cool designs for cool, young, and hip users. But the features it’s recently added go beyond style by delivering wireless connectivity that younger, plugged-in consumers demand.