An agreement between hearing aid manufacturers and Bluetooth Special Interest Group means that in the future, Bluetooth technology can send sound signals directly to hearing aids.

It hasn’t been possible for Bluetooth technology, which transfers information from one electrical device to another through a wireless connection, to send sound signals directly to a hearing aid. The most significant reason for this has been that the technology demanded more power than the small batteries within a hearing
aid could provide.

Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) and European Hearing Instrument Manufacturers Association (EHIMA) have now signed a memo of understanding (MOU) to develop a standard for new hearing aids.

The standard will improve existing features as well as creating new ones such as stereo audio from a mobile device or media gateway using wireless technology.
Hearing aid users will no longer ” devices and they can switch freely between brands as all major manufacturers will adhere to the same standard.

The new Bluetooth standard is expected to be adopted rapidly by consumer electronics
manufacturers, once it has been finalized, presumably in 2016.