Sonova plays catch up with Danish rivals on hearing-aid tech

ZURICH (Reuters) - Sonova on Thursday launched a new hearing aid that streams audio directly from wireless mobile devices as the Swiss company closes the gap to Danish competitors who pioneered similar technology.

Sonova, the world's biggest hearing aid maker, was criticized for missing an opportunity with tech-savvy Baby Boomers after rivals including GN Store Nord introduced direct-streaming hearing aids for Apple devices in 2014.

Now, the Swiss company is aiming to compete on that turf with new hearing aids that enable direct streaming from not just Apple but most other Bluetooth-equipped devices, too, including those running Google's Android system and conventional cell phones.