Meet Phil Creighton – the Auracast evangelist

Phil Creighton is a journalist with nearly 30 years’ experience in the industry. He has edited newspapers, made regular appearances on radio, created magazines, written for computer magazines, interviewed several Doctor Whos, and written some comic strips. 

And he is also severely deaf, thanks to a hereditary condition which cuts out high and low frequencies. 

At first glance you won’t realise that Phil has trouble hearing as his speech is reasonably normal – give or take his ‘th’ sound (was that three or free he meant?). He has, like many deaf and hard-of-hearing people, found ways to navigate modern life without people realising that he is having trouble hearing them. 

Newsrooms are busy places, and much of the job is conducted on the phone or in noisy environments. Phil has always looked for ways in which technology can assist him. Twenty years ago, that meant recording calls on a Dictaphone and spending hours painfully transcribing a short quote. 

In recent years, things have improved, including the advent of digital hearing aids with improved connectivity to computers, televisions, and phones. Technology has come on in leaps and bounds over the past few years, including Android restoring call recording on phone calls – so much easier for transcribing interviews – and Made For iPhone and ASHA standards meaning Bluetooth hearing aids can plug straight into mobiles. 

Phil first heard about Auracast a couple of years ago and has been impatiently following updates ever since. 

Now, the technology is starting to come to market properly, and the world is waking up to the potential of Auracast Bluetooth. It’s exciting. and Phil wants to be an Auracast evangelist, telling everyone about the benefits of this technology. 

Phil wears Starkey Edge AI hearing aids which have Auracast built into them, which means he can test Auracast-enabled transmitters with ease. He also wears Oticon Opns which are older tech.

With this blog, Phil will be able to combine his decades of journalistic experience with his enthusiasm for Auracast to give you some of the best information that you’ll find about the new Bluetooth standard.

For more about Phil, you can visit his professional website.