A sneak peak of Songbird's "disposable" hearing aid at a press event yesterday got me thinking--between our seemingly endless cell phone conversations and the fact that we spend a huge chunk of our days with iPod earbuds shoved in our hearing holes at sometimes unholy volumes, it seems like a pretty safe bet that a lot of us are going to require some manner of hearing assistance at some point down the road.

Fortunately, thanks to the people at Swiss company Phonak, the need for hearing aid no longer means that you have to eschew those same devices that no doubt helped contribute to your hearing loss in the first place.

The company's Exelia hearing device connects wireless to your mobile phone, GPS, MP3 player, or other gadget wirelessly, via Bluetooth, analogue FM, or a wired audio input. The Exelia sports a multi-channel control system that "that continuously and automatically creates an infinite number of situation-specific programs to meet-and adapt to-the demands of different sound environments." Users can also focus the direction in which the device picks up conversations.

The Exelia's connectivity also lets doctors adjust the device wirelessly.