NXP and Widex Bring Industry’s Most Power-efficient, Wireless Audio Streaming Hearing Aids to Market

EINDHOVEN, Netherlands and COPENHAGEN, Denmark, July 06, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NXP Semiconductors (NASDAQ:NXPI) and Widex, one of the world’s leading hearing aid producers, announced that they have collaborated to develop, test and integrate NXP’s NxH2003 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) audio streaming SoC into Widex BEYOND™ hearing aids. The two companies worked closely together throughout the product development cycle, merging the best of hearing aid engineering and wireless audio streaming semiconductor technology, to deliver hearing aid devices that can stream wireless audio from an iOS device, consuming only 2.8 mA current at 1.2 Volts, which is best in industry. This allows end users to enjoy music directly from their personal devices for prolonged periods of time.

“Widex has always been well-known in the industry for low-power consumption,” said Widex CEO Jørgen Jensen. “Integrating NXP’s NxH2003 means we are able to live up to that reputation while still supporting power-hungry Bluetooth streaming applications. We use less power when streaming 25 percent of the time than any of the comparable hearing aids. Our competitors can’t match that even when they don’t stream.”

“This announcement reinforces our leading position as a trusted supplier and innovator in the hearing aid industry,” said Chae Lee, senior vice president and general manager of NXP’s secure interface and power solutions business. “Our hearing aid customers demand the lowest energy consumption and smallest footprint while adding wireless streaming and increasing processing power. The NXP NxH2003 meets these conflicting requirements. As NXP has proven with Near Field Magnetic Induction (NFMI) technology, and its MiGLO solutions that enabled truly wireless stereo audio streaming, NXP expects to deploy its industry-leading, low-power BLE audio streaming technology in the adjacent hearables market as well.”

NXP’s state-of-the-art BLE 4.1 certified solution measures only 7.25mm2 and has industry-lowest receive and transmit power levels of 4mW and 7mW respectively. The NxH2003 forms a total solution for ultra-low power wireless audio streaming as it embeds both an M0 microcontroller (running the protocol stack and application), as well as an embedded CoolFlux^TM DSP (running all of the required audio processing including sample rate conversion and audio [de]compression). Furthermore, this advanced IC is highly integrated and can run directly from a Zinc-Air battery as typically used in hearing aids, which minimizes the number of external components and consequently reduces the volume of the end product.

Technologies and solutions for hearing aids and consumer hearables are converging as both markets share closely related use cases while at the same time facing similar end-user requirements and technology barriers. Both markets strive to design smaller and more comfortable end devices exhibiting longer battery life. Additionally, both hearing aid and consumer hearables companies recognize that users desire more functionality from their devices, ranging from the ability to sync with their phones, for calls, music, and games to biometric measurements for health monitoring.

NXP offers solutions for both markets. NXP has been providing proprietary NFMI (Near Field Magnetic Induction) technology to the hearing instrument industry for nearly a decade. And at CES earlier this year, the company debuted its NFMI-based MiGLO solutions with several OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in smart consumer hearables. The NXP MiGLO platform is designed to enable long battery life, exceptional audio quality and reliable wireless experiences while enabling the development of smarter, smaller and comfortable truly wireless earbuds or hearables.

About Widex
At Widex we believe in a world where there are no barriers to communication; a world where people interact freely, effortlessly and confidently. With sixty years’ experience developing state-of-the-art technology, we provide hearing solutions that are easy to use, seamlessly integrated in daily life and enable people to hear naturally. As one of the world’s leading hearing aid producers, our products are sold in more than a hundred countries and we employ 4,000 people worldwide. Read more at www.widex.com.

About NXP Semiconductors
NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ:NXPI) enables secure connections and infrastructure for a smarter world, advancing solutions that make lives easier, better and safer. As a world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, NXP is driving innovation in the secure connected vehicle, end-to-end security & privacy and smart connected solutions markets. Built on more than 60 years of combined experience and expertise, the company has 31,000 employees in more than 33 countries and posted revenue of $9.5 billion in 2016. Find out more at www.nxp.com.  

NXP, the NXP logo, and MIGLO are trademarks of NXP B.V. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. © 2017 NXP B.V. 

For more information, please contact:NXP SemiconductorsTate TranTel: +1 408-802-0602Email:tate.tran@nxp.comWidexAndrew ArnoldTel: +45 44 35 56 51Email:aarn@widex.com