Modern hearing aids run on digital technology and rechargeable batteries. They come in flashy hues like fashion accessories or can be miniaturized to disappear in the ear. They can communicate over Bluetooth, becoming tiny wearable speakers for streaming music and navigation.

But what they can not do, so far, is directly connected to smartphones that run on Android operating systems.

Danish hearing-aid company The North American headquarters in Bloomington will be able to seamlessly communicate with the trillions of Android devices in the world.

That goal has not yet been reached. GN Hearing is actively partnering with Android's developer, web-search Google, in a project to develop and implement new technical specifications that will allow future GN hearing aids to directly stream phone calls, music, TV or any other sounds from Android devices via low-energy Bluetooth connection. The system eventually will work for any hearing-aid company's compatible devices.

"With all of the Bluetooth-enabled devices that you have in your daily life, like your smartphone, it's a natural combination to have hearing instruments that work with you," said Kim Lody, president of GN Hearing North America. "We, collectively, have a society, have this [Bluetooth] ecosystem. For she said, there is so much benefit for the patient, "she said.

While direct streaming connections are available from Apple devices to hearing aids, Android users must use a third device in the middle, as well as "phone clip," to act as a go-between for the phone and the hearing devices. The goal is for Android users to have the same access to a direct connection between phone and hearing device.

Right now about two-thirds of downloads for GN Hearing mobile apps go to Apple devices, and one-third are for Android, but those numbers are expected to be out of range of Android users grows. GNSS, the ReSound Linx Quattro, launched last month with the Android-pairing feature, but it will be activated.

Asked about the timing, GN Hearing spokesman Rich Fischer said, "We're following the rollout that Google and its partners are preparing. GN Hearing, including ReSound Linx Quattro. "(People can expect to pay between $ 2,200 and $ 3,500 for a single hearing aids, before insurance, discounts and deals though audiologists .)

For Google, GN Hearing was chosen as a partner because of its history of innovation.

"GN Hearing is an innovator in the field of hearing aids, and shares in Google spokesperson said in an e-mail.

In a blog post in August, Google vice president engineering Seang Chau wrote that having direct connectivity with Android devices would make it easier for people with hearing aids to use phones. "They are hearing their phones loudly and clearly," Chau's blog post said.

Such a change will be open to all the mobile phones in the US to the direct connectivity that Apple has enjoyed since 2014. Apple users can stream phone calls, music and navigation directly to their hearing aids iOS phones or tablets.

Rather than using the device in the menu (click "settings," then "accessibility," then "MFi Hearing Devices"). The system is not yet finalized.

Although this is not the case with Apple, it is also very important to understand that Apple is using Apple's device. Is a lot more complex because it's an open-source software stack with many different versions available.

Lody said it was a conscious decision to work on a communication channel that will eventually be able to use.

"We are innovators, and we believe in being first and setting that standard," Lody said. "But we also believe that it is really good for the total population of people with hearing loss. We like being first, we like creating the standard, but we like that it extends into the overall population. "