Amazon Pairs Fire Cube, Starkey Hearing Aids

Amazon has teamed up with hearing aid maker Starkey to help users of its Fire TV Cube streaming device better hear their programming.

As CNET reported Thursday (April 28), the Fire TV Cube is the first streaming device from a U.S. technology company that can turn a hearing aid into a Bluetooth headphone that’s calibrated to a person’s hearing needs.

The feature makes the Cube compatible with Audio Streaming for Hearing Aid, an open-source protocol for communicating with hearing aids, according to the report. The device can link up with hearing aids from Starkey, whose products include the Audibel, NuEar, MicroTech and Audigy brands.

Amazon Director of Accessibility for Devices Peter Korn told CNET that connecting a streaming box to a hearing aid was difficult, as people typically sit farther away from their TV than they do from other devices.

But many people with hearing loss say being able to understand what’s being said on TV is one of their most sought-after lifestyle improvements, Korn said in the report, next to being able to hear conversations better.

“The innovation for us was recognizing that customers wanted TV next, and we saw a path to doing that,” Korn said, per the report.

Users can pair their hearing aids to the Fire TV Cube from the settings menu, where they can select “accessibility,” followed by “hearing aids.” CNET reported the feature also lets users hear the Fire TV Cube’s Alexa voice assistant through their hearing aids.

As PYMNTS reported last year, 25% of people between the ages of 65 and 74 and half of those over 75 need hearing aids. But many of these people have never used them due to cost and aesthetics.

Read more: Connected Tech Overcomes Hearing Aids Stigma

“They don’t want to be perceived as wearing a hearing aid because they aren’t that old,” Olive Union Chief Financial Officer Edward Hall told PYMNTS. “A lot of people with mild and moderate hearing loss are still in their 40s and 50s, for example, and the design is an issue for them.”