Latest news with #GNHearing
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Yahoo
Google's Android Beta 16 includes support for Auracast
The new Android 16 beta build released today for developers will include support for Auracast, which enables earbuds and hearing aids to connect to public and private audio streams thanks to the Bluetooth LE standard. A demonstration of Auracast technology at CES 2024 showed how it could be used in environments where public service announcements can be difficult to hear for all of us, but particularly those with hearing impairment. We've been excited about the technology for a while now, and the Android 16 beta support is a great step forward for broader implementation. The new update will allow compatible devices — be it hearing aids from GN Hearing or Starkey, or earbuds like the JBL Tour 3 Pro — to receive broadcasts from compatible TVs or public transmitters with Samsung Galaxy devices with One UI 7, Android 15, or Google Pixel 9 devices running the Android 16 beta. For those connecting with a hearing aid, your hearing aid presets will be applied to the broadcasts. With the update, Google is rolling out the ability to connect to broadcasts with a QR code instead of needing to go into the devices settings. The QR code implementation will be available first on Pixel 9 devices. As Auracast gets supported in more products, there's great potential for use in our everyday lives. This includes far more flexibility while watching TV — either with the placement of Aurcast-enabled speakers throughout a room, or multiple people being able to listen to the same broadcast with different language options of frequency boost settings for intelligibility — or being able to connect to an audio stream specific to your gate at the airport for boarding or (God forbid) delay notifications. It also means you'll be able to use your own headphones, earbuds, or hearing aids to connect to the stream — as long as they have Auracast enabled. The inclusion of Auracast leads to better auditory accessibility, and we're here for it.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Yahoo
Auracast support is coming to Android
Google is updating Android to support Auracast, a Bluetooth LE technology that makes it possible to create, listen to and switch between public broadcasts of Bluetooth audio on the devices you already own. At its simplest, Auracast could let you to tune your Bluetooth earbuds to a muted TV in a public space and hear its audio. For Google, though, it sounds like the company is primarily interested in using the feature to make hearing aids even more helpful. Google plans to use Auracast as a way to get Bluetooth audio streaming to hearing aids paired to your phone or tablet. If a TV or streaming device supports Auracast, you'll be able to use your Android device to connect the hearing aids directly to the source and hear what's playing. The company says any presets you've tweaked to customize how your hearing aids sound will carry over to audio you hear through Auracast, too. On Pixel 9 devices, you can even skip diving into settings to switch to the broadcast and instead scan a QR code to immediately connect your hearing aids. The feature is coming to the Pixel 9 via the third Android 16 beta, which is also getting released today. Besides Auracast, the pre-release software includes a new accessibility option that lets you outline text to make it easier to read and a "Local Network Protection" feature that will give anyone with an Android 16 device "more control over which apps can access devices on their local network," Google says. The final version of Android 16 is still a ways off, but the developer beta is available to download today on supported devices. If you don't want to experiment with the beta, Google says you can try out Auracast with a Samsung Galaxy device running One UI 7 and compatible hearing aids from GN Hearing or Starkey.
