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smartphones, cellphones

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smartphones, cellphones

2011 Tech Gifts for Seniors

Last year's list of tech gifts that keep on giving is still pretty accurate in terms of categories -- eReaders and eBooks, video communication devices, game-related and music-related.  But be thankful, tech time marches on, and there are more variants of each, plus some new items to consider -- if you're in aging services or senior housing, pass some ideas along to residents or clients:

Tablets and smart phones – stifling our communicating selves

To type or not to type – that is the tablet question. A long time ago in a cubicle far, far away, one fingered poking at keys sent a clear message – this person can’t touch type. Must have missed the high school typing class in favor of shop.  I knew many one-fingered programmers, back in the day – they advanced to management quickly to avoid exposure as the typing frauds they were. They weren’t big on writing longhand letters, and voluminous e-mails were not strengths. But authors, journalists and now bloggers (all 156 million of them) know that their strength is in paragraphs with punch AND punctuation, clauses, and…even upper-lower case. But with tablets and smart phones, the era of richness in typed text may be near an end – watch the swiping users to know of what I speak.

Memo to vendors: Stop helping, you're making us crazy

As I nearly cut myself this morning trying to pull/persuade/yank the tab from a new carton of half-and-half, I am reminded that we have entered a new era.  Product vendors read health, environmental, safety regulations and stats – and they try to ‘help’ us with packaging that protects product quality, makes the car safer, lowers the cost of production, or…is what they think we want, maybe because it is what the innovator wants. But trying to help us is hurting, frustrating, and scaring an older population. Please save us from some of this ‘helpful’ innovation that tells us we are not up to the device, the package or the car like:

Consider technologies designed for all, including older adults

Summarizing the Pew Research reports to expose boomer/senior tech adoption trends was quite an eye opener, shining a light on the wide gap between enthusiasm and hype versus the reality of actual boomer/senior buyers and users. For example, in case you were wondering: the tablet, E-reader and smart phone have not taken the 65+ population by storm. But 24% of boomers and 11% of seniors have smart phones today – and I believe that number will double at the next survey. Not exactly a groundswell, nevertheless a clear recognition of benefit.

Nuvel Announces Strategic Alliance with GEOS for vSOS Smartphone Emergency Response System

08/03/2011

CAMPBELL, CA (August 3, 2011) - Nuvel, developer of vSOS(tm), the industry's

leading personal emergency response application for smartphones, announced today

that it has entered into an agreement with GEOS Alliance, the world leader in

emergency monitoring and response services.  Under the agreement, Nuvel's vSOS

is using GEOS emergency response services to provide people of all ages with

24/7/365 response to any emergency-health, accident, assault-with one touch on

their smartphone.


"The world-class emergency response features that GEOS provides, as well as the

mobility and simplicity that vSOS delivers make the market for this application

virtually unlimited," said Randy Hagin, Nuvel Senior Vice President of Sales.

"According to a recent IDC report, smartphone sales will increase from about

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Are the Mi-Look phone's functions for our future -- or now?

The Japanese offer us a device-eye lens into US in 2030... or maybe today.  Heads up. See what $255 buys today in Japan for monitoring and communicating with an aging parent. The Mi-Look phone, recently announced by Kyocera, helps us look into our tech future, circa 2030, when a relatively niche US market will have grown to become a mainstream expectation. By that date, the age 65+ population will have reached the current Japanese percentage of approximately 22 percent. There will be nearly 52 million people 70 and older in the US, well over the current target population for the Mi-Look phone, which represents a 12 million current senior market size in Japan. So at that point, there should be quite a bit of demand for cleverness. Mainstream vendors will trip over themselves to offer high function/low price tech anyone could use without training and away from the home. But hey, what do you know, given the prospective market size of 12 million aged 70+ that Kyocera has identified in Japan -- wouldn't you know that there are already 27 million in the US today who are age 70+.

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Consumer Cellular Announces Partnership with Nurture Connect

07/23/2011

Consumer Cellular, the exclusive wireless provider for AARP members, has announced a partnership with Nurture Connect, a company dedicated to helping 50+ consumers learn about technology. The collaboration will help educate seniors about communication technologies and cellphone services.

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