Over the next two months, Starkey® Hearing Technologies, the only American-owned and -operated hearing aid manufacturer, will release a suite of new technologies and applications to bring patients more of what they want from their hearing devices. The release includes a brand-new, faster operating system, Acuity OS 2; the new Halo 2 RIC 312 and next generation of the TruLink Hearing Control App; a rechargeable Muse hearing aid option designed with ZPower; and the new SurfLink Mini Mobile.

On Monday, January 23, Starkey Hearing Technologies will officially release Acuity OS 2, TruLink 4.0 and the Halo RIC 312 to market. The new rechargeable Muse micro RIC 312t ZPower option and new SurfLink Mini Mobile will launch in February.

Acuity OS 2 and Interactive Intelligence

The new Acuity OS 2 operating system is designed to deliver patients personalization at the speeds their lifestyles demand. Five times faster than its predecessor, Acuity OS 2 includes two revolutionary new features and will work with all of Starkey Hearing Technologies Synergy® platform hearing aids.

Interactive Intelligence ensures seamless environmental shifts and preservation of conversation by quickly and constantly adapting to changing lifescapes when speech is present.
Initial Fit Protocol in the Inspire® software allow for a faster and more personalized best fit — shortening the time professionals spend fitting and allowing more time to counsel patients on best practices for use and care.

All-new Muse and Halo 2 products will ship with Acuity OS 2. All Muse and Halo 2 products currently worn by patients can be upgraded to the new operating system at any time.

Halo 2 RIC 312 and TruLink 4.0 — Nearly invisible and intimately personalized

The Halo 2 RIC 312 is Starkey's smallest Made for iPhone® hearing aid yet. A new style of Starkey's award-winning hearing aids, Halo 2, the nearly invisible Made for iPhone®hearing aid launches alongside TruLink 4.0 for the best hearing experience yet.

"Halo 2 is one of our most popular hearing aids. It delivers high-quality performance, clarity of sound, listening comfort, and the connectivity with mobile technology that patients want," Starkey Hearing Technologies Chief Technical Officer Tim Trine said. "With the Halo 2 RIC 312, new TruLink updates and the enhanced performance and speed provided by Acuity OS 2, patients will be able to have a better, more personalized listening experience."

To help patients with Halo or Halo 2 hearing aids better customize their hearing experiences, TruLink 4.0 features a brand-new tool and new layout. The tool, Ultimate Personalization, ensures patients won't miss a word in wind, noise and crowds by enabling them to control and personalize noise management on-demand. Additionally, SoundSpace™ has been relocated to the new Personalized Control section of the app to help patients make easier adjustments to sound quality in different environments. Finally, users will now be promoted to create custom memories to make geotagging and custom memory creation easier.

ZPower and Muse — Our "Made for Music" hearing aid is now rechargeable

Thanks to ZPower, the Muse micro RIC 312t now comes in a rechargeable option. Patients will no longer have to worry about their batteries failing at inopportune times and can simply, "Recharge. Relax. Repeat."

"We are proud that Starkey chose ZPower's rechargeable battery technology for their highly acclaimed Muse hearing aid," Sara Sable-Antry, VP of Sales and Marketing for ZPower, said. "It has been our mission to use ZPower's innovative silver-zinc battery technology to improve the quality of life of hearing aid wearers, and now, with the launch of the rechargeable Muse, more patients will benefit from the convenience of reliable, rechargeable hearing aids."

SurfLink Mini Mobile

Alongside the new Muse product, comes a new SurfLink wireless hearing accessory. SurfLink Mini Mobile offers patients the two-in-one advantage of streaming phone calls and enhancing one-on-one conversations. A compact cell phone streaming solution, the SurfLink Mini Mobile adapter plugs into the popular SurfLink Remote Microphone 2 to allow patients to connect to any Bluetooth®-ready device and stream phone calls directly to their hearing aids. Once a call is done, patients can unplug the Mini Mobile adapter and return to using the SurfLink Remote Microphone 2 to aid in one-on-one conversations.