Bluetooth panic button makes emergency calls
We've seen it a dozen times in thrillers: a crime victim struggles to call 911 but the phone is knocked away by the assailant and lies there, just out of reach, as the attacker moves in. A new device from British design consultancy Fen Technology and Ireland's Securecom could give would-be victims a chance to make that emergency call without ever having to touch the phone — as long as it's a Bluetooth-enabled GSM cellphone or GPS satellite phone. The Wireless Personal Alarm is a button-sized transmitter designed to be worn as a pendant. Press it, and an emergency call goes out to a pre-defined list of contacts with your location triangulated by the network (with a satellite phone, GPS is used, but the unit has to be connected to the phone, kind of defeating the whole point). Let's just hope the developers don't make this thing look too good or it may be the first thing the thief grabs.
[Via The Wireless Weblog]
