14 DAY TRIAL // has discovered a couple of patent applications that may make Apple devices helpful to people with hearing disabilities.
The two filings, expected to complement the "Made for iPhone" hearing aid support, describe hardware accessories that will wirelessly connect to tablets and phones, including the iPhone 4S.
They are called Social Network for Sharing a Hearing Aid Setting and Remotely Updating a Hearing Aid Profile.
More than just an individual accessory, Apple envisions a system where hearing impaired people could communicate with each other and share configuration settings, or store them on computers, TVs or other devices.
"With the advent of programmable hearing aids whose signal processing can be at least partially modified, what is desired is providing a hearing aid user the ability to modify the audio processing of the programmable hearing aid in the context for which the hearing aid will be used," the filing reads.
