Get the Edge on the Latest Audio Technologies with audioXpress April 2019

audioXpress April 2019 features a closer look at two hot application areas in audio, with an expanded Market Update about hearables and true wireless stereo, and an update on voice capture solutions. Also in this edition, Steve Temme (Listen, Inc.) addresses the challenges for testing the wider class of connected speakers, experts from Nokia Technologies explain how audio processing in smartphones can enable completely new features, and Luke McCready reviews the Qobuz hi-res music streaming service, now available in the US. Get your audioXpress now!

Futuresource Consulting announced the forthcoming availability of the new 'Worldwide Hearables Report'. According to the company's research, the growing appeal of aftermarket headphones is opening up the new ‘hearables’ sub-segment, catering for those with hearing loss and alleviating much of the expense and stigma attached to hearing aids. Amid these market developments, Futuresource will carry out in-depth original research to explore the enabling technologies, the underlying consumer attitudes, motivations and the size of the hearables opportunity.

ZVOX Audio announced the availability of its VoiceBud V20, the company's first-ever personal audio device. As the company believes the category will be booming in the next 18 months as more companies enter the over-the-counter (OTC) personal sound amplification product business, ZVOX designed a very affordable ($299) device equipped with dual-microphone NoiseBlocker technology and smartphone app control using high-performance American-made electronics components.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allowed marketing of a new device, the Bose Hearing Aid, intended to amplify sounds for individuals 18 years or older with perceived mild to moderate hearing impairment (hearing loss). This is the first hearing aid authorized for marketing by the FDA that enables users to fit, program and control the hearing aid on their own, without assistance from a health care provider.