Safety features have made their way to mainstream wearables like the Apple Watch, but devices that can keep an eye on you remain expensive.
That's why the Protect, from Lincoln, UK based startup Tended, is an interesting addition. It's an activity tracker (steps, calories, distance) with smartphone alerts via Bluetooth LE and a personal safety wearable, which including fall and movement detection, a regular check-in feature and tap for emergency calls via your smartphone. That's all for a pre-order price of .
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That's 35% off its final retail price, but there's also no monthly fees for Tended's safety features. So it all sounds very affordable. It's suitable to be used by children over the age of 13, elderly people and also wheelchair users. The platform can detect an abnormal range of movement. The aim is for this wearable to appeal to "outdoor adventurers" too and it could be very useful for cyclists or climbers.
Digging into the actual safety features, you can pre-set a check-in at regular intervals so that the band will vibrate and you just tap the screen or wave your arm to dismiss. If the Protect detects an accident i.e. a fall/sudden impact, a missed check-in or a period of no movement, it vibrates to check in (which avoids false alarms as per the Series 4's fall detection). Then if there's no response, it can be set to send the wearer's GPS location, live audio from the scene and health and activity info to pre-set emergency contacts.
To make an SOS call, via the connected smartphone, users can do a pre-set pattern of clicks to start the call.
"We wanted to create something that could protect people but was much more than a simple panic button," says Tended's founder Leo Scott Smith. "We've built a wearable device that is so smart it can detect an accident as and when it happens."
As we already mentioned, Tended Protect is available to pre-order now and will start shipping in January 2019.
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