Oticon's Syncro Lauded for Technological Excellence by Frost & Sullivan

From: PR Newswire (press release) - Dec 6, 2004

LONDON, December 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Oticon A/S of Denmark has been awarded the Frost & Sullivan's 2004 European Excellence in Technology Award in the field of audiology and hearing aid technologies for the development of its novel, next-generation hearing aid 'Syncro', its commitment to technology innovation and its pioneering range of new technologies/products that have appreciably improved the quality of life of its users,

"Oticon is pleased to be recognized by Frost & Sullivan as a technology leader," stated (Niels Jacobsen or Steen Bindslev) "For over 100 years, Oticon has been a pioneer in developing innovative, advanced technologies to benefit people with hearing loss. To gain international recognition for Syncro confirms our belief that Syncro truly is 'a new breed of hearing aid.'"

Frost & Sullivan Industry Analyst Giridhar Rao praised Oticon's 'Syncro' as a pioneering technology that deploys artificial intelligence (AI) designed to optimise speech understanding for the hard of hearing person. He noted,. "Unlike predictive based systems that could give erroneous output at times, Syncro uses a completely new and dedicated chip platform that allows for parallel processing in real-time, rapidly selecting the best hearing outcome from a multitude of different possibilities."

Syncro's voice priority processing (VPP) (signal processing) system simultaneously processes several different combinations of innovative features such as high performance multi-band adaptive directionality, tri-state noise reduction and voice aligned compression. It immediately compares the outcome achieved by each combination and then picks the exact combination that provides the optimal voice-to-noise ratio at any given moment.

Syncro is user-friendly; software innovations explain the device's intelligent functions to clients, while an outstanding 'counselling multimedia' tool helps facilitate the fitting process. At the same time, by focusing on the benefits offered by the device's features rather than the features per se, Syncro has exhibited the potential to redefine the way the market and the end users employ hearing aids.

Supported by high levels of customer acceptance and satisfaction, Syncro has steered the industry in the direction of making hearing systems more intelligent and less obtrusive and has reinforced Oticon's competitive position in the high-end segment of the market.

Adapto, the predecessor of Oticon's Syncro, underlines a long tradition of innovation. Advanced VoiceFinder (voice activation) technology that provided optimal conditions for speech understanding in noise and OpenEar Acoustics technology, lessening 'the head-in-a-barrel' effect, helped Adapto revolutionise hearing aid technology. The landmark dynamic feedback cancellation (DFC) approach, which filtered out any whistling even before it was heard, enabled patients to attain maximum audibility in all kinds of situations.

Commending the award recipient, Mr. Rao says, "Oticon A/S has been recognised with Frost & Sullivan's Excellence in Technology Award because of its demonstrated excellence in research and technology development, and in particular, because of the groundbreaking Syncro hearing aid that has opened up a new category in premium hearing care."

About Oticon

Oticon, one of the world's oldest and most respected hearing aid manufacturers, celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2004. The company was founded in Copenhagen in 1904 by Hans Demant, inspired by a desire to help his hearing impaired wife and others like her. Today, Oticon is located in over 20 countries, providing quality, state-of-the-art hearing instruments to people worldwide. A pioneer in digital technology, Oticon continues to develop and manufacture the newest, most technologically advanced hearing instruments to help people with hearing loss "live the lives they want, with the hearing they have." The company's commitment to put "People First" in designing quality hearing care solutions is made stronger through partnership with dedicated and caring hearing care professionals in countries around the world.

Media Contact:
Katja Feick,
Corporate Communications,
P: +49-69-77033-12
F: +49-69-234566
E: katja.feick@frost.com
http://www.awards.frost.com

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, a global growth consulting company founded in 1961, partners with clients to create value through innovative growth strategies. The foundation of this partnership approach is our Growth Partnership Services platform, whereby we provide industry research, marketing strategies, consulting and training to our clients to help grow their business. A key benefit that Frost & Sullivan brings to its clients is a global perspective on a broad range of industries, markets, technologies, econometrics, and demographics. With a client list that includes Global 1000 companies, emerging companies, as well as the investment community, Frost & Sullivan has evolved into one of the premier growth consulting companies in the world.

Media Contact:
Melanie Kleinhammes,
Corporate Communications,
P: +45-(0)-3913-83-62
F: +45-(0)-39-27-79-00
E: mkl@oticon.dk

SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

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