FCC mandates all mobile phones in the US to be compatible with hearing aids
FCC mandates all mobile phones in the US to be compatible with hearing aids
The FCC has approved a new rule requiring 100% of all mobile handsets sold in the US to be compatible with hearing aids.
The rule also mandates universal Bluetooth standards and volume control compliance for all smartphones.
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I couldn’t tell from reading the article but are all phones required to have Bluetooth now? Like is the end of dumb phones?
Dumb phones have had Bluetooth. I remember as far back as the first RAZR having bluetooth.
I've had phones newer than the first RAZR that didn't have bluetooth but it's been a while and bluetooth is incredibly cheap -- in fact it probably comes for free with the GSM module, just needs the right software the hardware is already capable of doing it. Separate bluetooth modules (ESP32) cost what 1.30, antenna, maybe ten cents.
A total aside, but I was always annoyed early smart phones had am/fm receivers in them (free on the chip) and relatively few phones ever let them be accessed. I think most of those also could do TV signal, if I'm not mistaken? But that may have been a subset.
Sure, that probably played hell on the battery, but it would've been neat to have the option to DVR TV over the air on my phone back then and cast it, in the early days of Chromecast.
Phones in 1998/99 had BT, well before smart phones.