Camarillo, Calif. Dec 10, 2015) — ZPower, LLC announced today that it has been named a CES 2016 Innovation Awards Honoree for the ZPower Rechargeable System for Hearing Aids. Products entered in this prestigious program are judged by a preeminent panel of independent industrial designers, independent engineers, and members of the trade media to honor outstanding design and engineering in cutting edge consumer electronics products.
The prestigious CES Innovation Awards are sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association, the producer of CES 2016, the global gathering place for all who thrive on the business of consumer technologies, and have been recognizing achievements in product design and engineering since 1976.
Products chosen as CES Innovation Honorees reflect innovative design and engineering in some of the most cutting edge tech products and services coming to market.
The award recognizes ZPower for their rechargeable silver-zinc (AgZN) battery technology and their complete system that allows that technology to be used in today’s most popular hearing aids.
Today, many hearing aid wearers, whom have varying levels of dexterity and vision impairment, manually replace their disposable hearing aid batteries every few days. Not only is this a physical challenge for hearing aid wearers, it also leads to 1.4 billion disposable hearing aid batteries being discarded into landfills annually.
Before ZPower, rechargeable hearing aids were limited to using lower energy density nickel–metal hydride (NiMH) batteries that frequently deliver less than a full day of power.
While rechargeable lithium-ion battery technology has revolutionized battery life in laptops and smartphones, the technology’s performance is extremely limited in the very small battery sizes required for hearing aids. Silver-zinc is a non-flammable, water-based chemistry that is safe for body-worn technologies.
ZPower’s innovative and patented silver-zinc rechargeable battery technology offers performance that no other rechargeable battery can match. ZPower batteries have nearly double the run time of competing technologies, allowing for a full day of power in today’s most advanced hearing aids. Not to mention, one ZPower battery replaces up to 100 disposable batteries per year.
But developing better battery technology was only half the battle. ZPower wanted to make their batteries compatible with today’s most popular hearing aids as well as make the system simple to use for consumers.
To do that, ZPower’s engineers developed a series of custom battery doors that are compatible with today’s most advanced hearing aids from a variety of manufacturers. The doors convert standard hearing aids, designed to work with disposable batteries, to hearing aids that can be used with rechargeable ZPower batteries and charged without removing the battery.
“Our goal was to develop a system that improves the quality of life for hearing aid wearers and allows consumers to ‘never touch another battery,’” said Dr. Ross E. Dueber, ZPower CEO. “We want recharging your hearing aid to be as easy as recharging your smartphone.”
That’s exactly what the ZPower Rechargeable System delivers. Once it’s installed by a hearing care professional, hearing aid wearers simply place their hearing aids in the ZPower charger overnight. In the morning their hearing aids are fully charged and ready to deliver a full day of use.
Gene M, a hearing aid wearer and now a user of the ZPower Rechargeable System wrote, “I was once a battery-challenged person; today I am free! I do not fool around with changing batteries or having one or both of my ears go deaf as a battery dies. I do not worry about dropping one as I remove it from the hearing aid, searching for one in the recesses of my computer case or pocket, … looking for a drug store to buy a new pack, cluttering my drawer with discarded discharged batteries, having a used battery in my pocket alert the metal detector in the airport security line which subjects me to a body search! Hearing aid batteries no longer rule me and my hearing loss. Thank you ZPower!”
The ZPower Rechargeable System for Hearing Aids will be displayed at CES 2016, which runs January 6-9, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada and currently the ZPower System for Hearing Aids is being featured on www.CESweb.org/Innovation in the category of Tech for a Better World.
To learn more about ZPower or the Rechargeable System for Hearing Aids please visit ZPower at CES in booth #73053 Tech West, Sands Expo, Level 2, Halls A-C or visit www.zpowerbattery.com or the ZPower Expo Page on AudiologyOnline.
About ZPower, LLC
ZPower is a leader in the development of rechargeable, silver-zinc batteries for miniature battery applications whose headquarters and manufacturing facility is in Camarillo, Calif. The company provides a total solution for hearing instrument manufacturers which includes advanced silver-zinc battery technology and charger design support. The ZPower solution simplifies new product development and speeds time-to-market. For end users, ZPower batteries deliver unmatched performance, improved user experience and are better for the environment. ZPower is ISO 9001:2008 certified and its facility and devices registered with the FDA.
