Cochlear launches Nucleus app for Android devices

Cochlear Ltd. (ASX:COH) said today it launched a Google (NSDQ:GOOG) Android compatible version of its Nucleus smart application designed for use with its Nucleus 7 sound processor.

With the update, users of the Nucleus 7 with Android devices can control their hearing through the linked application, and will gain access to a number of new features previously unavailable to them, the company said.

Along with the release, Cochlear said it added the ForwardFocus feature to its Nucleus 7 devices, allowing wearers to hear better in “challenging listening environments.”

“We are committed to giving people who are living with disabling hearing loss greater choices when it comes to controlling their hearing experience. ForwardFocus is designed for users who want to manage their hearing in very noisy situations, and enhance it in situations where even people without hearing loss would struggle. It’s anticipated that this will resonate with the 62% of the baby boomers surveyed who say the enhancement they would most want from their hearing technology is the ability to block out or ‘switch off’ background noise and focus in on a specific sound. ForwardFocus allows users to listen to a specific sound source near them – such as hearing a friend across the table in a noise restaurant,” chief tech officer Jan Janssen said in a press release.

In March, Cochlear said it donated $10 million to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to found the Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health, which it touted as the first academic institute looking to address hearing loss as a global health priority.