emergency services
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Apple is reportedly working on a way for iPhones to detect car crashes and auto-dial 911
Your iPhone might have a new capability as soon as next year: detecting a car accident and automatically dialing 911.
OnStar emergency services will be available through Alexa starting in October
The company will roll out the OnStar Guardian skill to all members in 2022.
BT, HTC and EE develop tech that can pinpoint 999 calls to within metres
Every second counts for the emergency services. So to speed up response times, a new system developed by BT, HTC and EE can now pinpoint the location of a distress call to within just 30 metres or less (down from several kilometres). As soon as you dial 999, a text message with your position is sent to the operator in one of BT's call centres, verified and forwarded to the relevant emergency service. It should help police officers, paramedics and fire fighters arrive at the scene quicker, and assist the 330,000 emergency callers each year who are unable to speak on the phone. Right now, the feature is (unsurprisingly) only supported on EE's network and a selection of HTC phones, but it's hoped the technology will be picked up by other UK networks and handset makers in the future.
As of today many iPhone users can text 911 in an emergency
The four major cellular providers -- AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile -- volunteered to participate in an Federal Communications Commission program that lets people contact their local 911 emergency services via text message. The deadline for getting it all set up and working is today, so the service should be available as of now in places where a 911 call center is technically prepared to receive texts. The experts still recommend that you use voice 911 calls, because they can provide emergency centers with much more information. But people who are deaf, hard of hearing, have a speech disability or may find it otherwise dangerous or impossible to voice call 911 will greatly benefit. The service required upgrades to local 911 centers, but as of today it should work from any iPhone (or any text-capable cellular phone) on any of the four major carrier networks. A big caveat is that while the cellular companies have added the feature, your local public safety officials have to sign on to the service before it can be implemented. Some will opt out due to costs, but it looks like the service is coming up rapidly state by state and locality by locality. In most cases, the 911 center getting your text won't have location information, so that should be in the body of the text. Voice calls to 911 generally provide a call center with your approximate location. Also, users are cautioned that text delivery might incur small delays in delivery, and that voice calls will still be faster. If you have any doubt about the availability of text-to-911 service in your area, check with your cellular provider. Please don't test this, but cellular companies say they have implemented a bounce-back feature notifying senders of 911 text messages if they were not received for any reason. You can find more information in the FCC FAQ.
Japan considers using social networks in disaster situations
Emergency services are embracing technology as new ways to investigate, send alerts and receive reports of crises. And now, the Japanese are looking at social networks to support communication in disaster scenarios, especially when traditional services fail. The local Fire and Disaster Management Agency put together a panel discussion on just that topic, with representatives attending from the likes of Twitter, Yahoo, Mixi and NHN Japan, as well as various government and emergency bodies. The talk was motivated, in part, by the March tsunami, when the internet was the sole means of information for some, and with initiatives like Google's Person Finder playing a role in the aftermath. Any formal implementation of the ideas discussed is probably a long way off, and this is the first of three planned meets to hash it out. In the meantime, however, Twitter's Japanese blog posted some suggestions on how their network could be used in emergencies -- we just hope they won't be needed anytime soon.
Delorme's inReach two-way satellite communicator gets iOS support, sends iPhone texts from Timbuktu (video)
If you're an iPhone or iPad owner, you might have been disappointed that the Delorme inReach two-way GPS communicator launched with app support only for Android users. That's fine if you're trekking with a Casio G'zOne Commando, but not so hot if you're of the Apple mindset and get stranded canoeing down the Amazon. Thankfully, Delorme just posted an iOS version of its Earthmate app that will let your Cupertino-designed gear send either text messages or SOS beacons through a paired-up inReach unit. As before, the handheld relies on its own GPS positioning and embedded locations in messages to keep friends and rescue crews updated anywhere the device can get an Iridium satellite lock-in. It'll still cost you $250 for the device and $10 per month to stay linked up; even so, there's a real chance you'll be texting your friends from your iPhone in Mali, assuming you haven't had to call a rescue helicopter first.
LG's Mobile DTV tech used in Tweet-TV and emergency alert systems
Among other things, LG is broadening the capabilities of Mobile DTV here at CES, with a social media aspect in particular striking us as particularly helpful / wacky. Tweet-TV, as it's called, brings together public comments about specific broadcasts and retransmits them for all viewers to see. We're told that viewers engaged with Tweet-TV would be able to interact with program content and submit their comments on programs. The broadcaster consolidates the real-time comments and transmits those short messages with the video and audio, enabling a transparent conversational overlay; in essence, the Mobile DTV application enables viewers to carry on an open discussion of program content or reply to questions that could be part of an "audience quiz." The program's also being used to display pertinent information on digital signage, not to mention an M-EAS project that'll use Mobile DTV to get emergency alerts to those with compatible equipment. Head on past the break for the rest of the details -- sadly, there's no real information on how soon Mobile DTV will be spreading to your neck of the woods.
KDDI's Mi-Look watches your elderly parents, treats them like prisoners (video)
KDDI's looking out for Japan's elderly, or putting them under house arrest -- it's hard to tell which. Hitting stores this September in the land of human-assistive tech, the Kyocera designed Mi-Look is a simplified GPS-capable, mobile-monitoring system that puts you in control of your Luddite parents. The waterproof device packs a strap-activated "I've fallen and I can't get up" buzzer and comes in an appealing shade of hospital white, all while keeping track of your folk's whereabouts. Seems innocent enough, right? Well, it's not really up to Ma and Pa to opt-out of location tracking -- the phone does it automatically, emailing a list of relatives with coordinates and distance traveled. And for that extra special Lindsay Lohan-lockdown touch, the charging port's sensor will not only count the number of times your rents pass by, it'll also answer calls automagically. Starting to feel a little bad about this? We don't blame you, but keep in mind the compassionate tech's being targeted to patients with memory loss issues. Still, we have a suspicion those with claims of a "stolen childhood" might be using this as revenge. Payback's a cellphone, apparently. Video demonstration after the break.
Government report finds LightSquared's LTE interferes with GPS -- color us surprised
No one said bathing the great United States in LTE would be easy, but the hits just keep on coming for Falcone and co. Following up on reports and concerns about LightSquared's possible interference, a government study has found that the outfit's proposed broadband network does indeed impede GPS signals. According to the National PNT Engineering Forum, the federal advisory group that conducted the study, LiqhtSquared's network disrupted GPS signals for all of the devices tested in the area. The report lists OnStar, Garmin, John Deere, emergency services, the FAA, and NASA among those affected by interference. Both LightSquared and the GPS industry are scheduled to present their own tests for the FCC's consideration next week. The news isn't exactly shocking, but it certainly doesn't bode well for the ambitious LTE network.
Verizon's dropped 911 calls leave one woman trapped in burning house (video)
We're just hearing of a story that makes that 10,000 or so emergency calls that didn't go through over Verizon's network on January 26 look a little more serious. A house in Silver Spring, Maryland caught fire that evening during the snowstorm that knocked out power and landlines. A neighbor, noticing the house was ablaze, tried calling 911 on his cellphone but couldn't get through. Thankfully he was able to save the 94 year old woman who was trapped inside, but it would be about 30 minutes of repeated dialing before finally being connected to emergency services. Thank goodness for heroes, but maybe Verizon Guy has some work to do himself.
Geolocation app appeals to your inner good samaritan, makes you an amateur EMT
When you go into cardiac arrest, you've got about ten minutes to live if you don't receive medical attention, and the average emergency response time is seven minutes after you dial 911. In an effort to get folks help more quickly and leverage the iPhone's life saving abilities, the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District in California has created the FireDepartment app to enlist the help of the citizenry in fighting the (unfortunate) results of a lifetime of eating tacos. The iPhone app -- Android and BlackBerry versions are currently in the works -- allows emergency dispatchers to notify users via text of a nearby crisis. For those feeling heroic, the app displays a map with the victim's location and any nearby automatic electronic defibrillators, and provides "resuscitation reminders" in case you're the CPR teddy-toting type. For now, the service only works in San Ramon but there are plans to port it for use elsewhere. That means we can look forward to a nation of amateur EMTs, which makes us thankful that mouth-to-mouth is no longer a part of CPR. Check the video after the break to see the app in action.
AT&T redirecting 911 calls from Salt Lake City to Seattle, working on a fix (update: fix is in)
Ready for a surreal way to start your day? Salt Lake City's KSL News has a report out this morning detailing the baffling experience of AT&T subscribers trying to access emergency services in the city. Instead of being routed through to their local dispatcher, the urgent calls somehow found their way to Seattle's 911 response center. Brought to the news team's attention by one Tony Sams, this issue was originally thought to originate in his iPhone's GPS system, as he was being identified as being located in the Seattle area, but then his local police also tried dialing their own number only to find themselves chatting it up with their Emerald City colleagues. Until they figure this out, we'd recommend using your landlines -- if you still have one of those antiques -- or just yelling at passersby for help. Hit the source for the full video report and the 10-digit direct number for Salt Lake City general dispatch. Update: AT&T has been very nippy in getting this routing problem sorted out, and proper service has been restored. The company is now investigating the cause of this problemo. [Thanks, Ryan]
Caption contest: iPhone as a CPR device
Alright, we'll leave all the zingers for you and our mercurial staff to deliver, and just use this space to dish some info on the hardware. Ivor Kovic, an emergency physician from Croatia, has recently demoed a new iPhone cradle that turns the already multifunctional handset into a CPR assistance device. By using an app titled Pocket CPR and the built-in accelerometer, he can get audio and visual feedback to tell him if he's doing it correctly, while his basic (but awesome) cradle allows for longer CPR sessions if necessary. Check out the video after the break, then hit the comments with your finest witticisms. Paul: "Come on Luke Wilson's Career, stay with me now, you're not going to die on me!" Darren: "Man, I could really get a better look at what's going on if this thing had a 9.7-inch IPS panel..." Chris: "Everyone is either dying or staying alive these days, and we began to ask ourselves: is there room for something in the middle?" Nilay: "He then died." Vlad: "Our other cradle also measures rhythm and depth, though its purpose isn't entirely medicinal." Andy: "A rare case where a lack of multitasking is actually helpful to the task on hand." Thomas: "Can you stop dying for a second, I have to take this call." Joe: "This actually adds an intriguing level of complexity to Super Monkey Ball 2." Richard Lai: "Come on... COME ON!! Wait a tick... AT&T? No wonder it isn't working. Dammit." Tim: "Looks like this guy's heart (puts on sunglasses)... has dropped its last call." Yeeeaaaaaahhhh...
GuidePoint Connect car kit promises to be "OnStar for everyone else"
It may not exactly look like much, but GuidePoint Systems is making some pretty lofty claims about its new GuidePoint Connect hands-free Bluetooth kit, which it says is nothing short of "OnStar for everyone else." To that end, the device adds emergency dispatch and roadside assistance services to the usual Bluetooth hands-free calling, the former of which is tied into Guidepoint's own response centers, while the latter can also be paired with GuidePoint's optional GPS tracking device for location-based services. Like OnStar, all of that is also simplified about as much as possible, with just four buttons on the main unit used to handle calls and the two emergency services. Look for the unit itself to set you back a somewhat hefty $399, which includes the emergency dispatch service for free, along with a one-year subscription to the GuidePoint Silver service that includes roadside assistance and other services.
London Police launch SMS service to call for help
The London City Police -- or Bobbies, cuz that's infinitely cuter -- has launched a new service whereby the citizenry can drop an SMS to the law in an emergency instead of calling it in. The new SMS service is replacing the typetalk and textphone systems for people with speech, and hearing difficulties. Of course, the service is open to all city residents by just SMSing 07940 500 500, leaving details of who you are, what's happening, and where. The SMS system will send out a reply as soon as the Police get your message. We think this could actually prove handy if your situation requires stealth, or you're hiding in a dumpster after being chased, or something.[Via Textually.org]
