My comments are speculation in reply to @d_Wooluf’s remark, “Why no emphasis on interoperability?” because I don’t think that they really plan to go for that in a big way. Relative to @MDB’s remark that you might use any classic BT microphone with Phonak’s version of classic BT, I think the HA OEM’s have a built-in way to control that: through their smartphone apps. In the apps, they can favor their own in-house devices and just not recognize other devices to work with a special program or with special perks within the smartphone app. Look at the Roger On app - it has its own special smartphone program designed to enhance operability with Phonak HA’s and a special Phonak license is required to unlock the gateway to HA reception of signal. An interesting conundrum for HA OEMs is that if BT LE Audio does truly bring interoperable accessory devices, HA have to support their existing proprietary BT LE accessory devices far enough into the future that BT LE Audio support and accessories have achieved sufficient market penetration to take over. I think that the HA OEMs are counting on the medical device aspect of HA’s limiting manufacturer access to the market and once you’ve sold a certain type of razor, you can invent ways to “encourage” users to only buy the pricey blades that best fit the razor - that’s where I see the market going. When I said the HA OEMs aren’t going to get down and dirty in the wearable market, how many accessories for hearing aids do Sennheiser and Jabra sell, @d_Wooluf? What I meant is that the HA OEMs have no intention of turning their business into a market that’s anywhere near as open as the wearable market unless stuff like the OTC “revolution” (kids in the car on the interminable trip: “Are we there yet, Mommy?!”) makes them do it to remain competitive in the HA market. Right now the HA market looks like mainly a restricted EU consortium of companies. When HA OEM’s start to announce mics, TV streamers, etc., that work with other OEMs’ HA’s, only then will I be a believer that there will be interoperable accessory devices that anyone can make and sell - but maybe they’ll all go the Phonak Roger licensing scheme, which you still need, don’t you, if you’re going to go with a FM receiver on a ReSound intermediary device or HA to get the Phonak Roger signal (ignorance showing here) to your non-Phonak HA’s. I see the Phonak Roger scheme being copied: if you want the best accessory for our brand of HA, you’re going to have to pay us extra moola to use vs. the open market “solution” that’s not going to work as well, give you all the HA features you get with our proprietary accessory device. Our proprietary accessory device not only broadcast in BT LE Audio but still broadcasts in our old proprietary BT LE mode - so if you’re still sticking with your “old” HA’s and don’t want the expense of new HA’s, you’ll want to buy our special proprietary accessory, which will work best with our previous HA’s and our future HA’s.
Anyone think that Phonak is going to come over into the BT LE Audio fold? Or that Apple isn’t going to try to maintain its walled garden MFi HA fold? Perhaps there will be special iOS features above and beyond standard BT LE Audio that you only get with a MFi HA (for which Apple undoubtedly gets paid a licensing fee or at least sets an admission barrier-right now Apple tries to favor its own iOS wearables, its own music service, and is under investigation in the US and the EU for anticompetitive practices) and perhaps just the fact that not any old OEM can make a MFi-compatible accessory will help restrict the market to those HA OEMs who are in bed with Apple in the MFi HA market, etc.