CES 2021 – roll the press releases and turn on your computer. A long time ago, one writer published a charmingly-named CES overview of CES 2012 called CES in Pajamas – an entertaining read with links to 2012 videos just to see what flopped, what was canceled (remember Microsoft Kinect?) and what/who is still around. Laptops were hot (remember the Ultrabook?) Voice First and the Apple Watch had not emerged. Oh well. Fast forward to 2021. Pajama-like clothing is the only way to consume the content vastness of this entirely online Consumer Electronics Show with 500 exhibits, 70,000 registered attendees, and 3 full days of sessions, many pre-recorded, some live. Too many press releases and some odd stuff (a rollable Smart phone?) Here are a few useful to older adults, alphabetical from firm sites:
WAYNE, Pa., Sept. 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- HandsFree Health™, provider of WellBe®, a secure, HIPAA compliant, voice-enabled virtual health assistant platform, today announced a medical alert system that integrates 24/7 emergency monitoring with the popular voice assistant, WellBe. This offering disrupts the medical alert category which typically only provides passive support unless utilized in an emergency. The new medical alert experience uniquely combines the WellBe® Emergency Alert Smartwatch, WellBe voice assistant, and WellBe app for wellness support with emergency services help.
Surprise (maybe) – Philips puts Lifeline business up for auction. How do I know this? Not from any news article other than PERS Insider, a newly created newsletter for those who track the medical alert industry. Probably given the Q1 profit drop, they had to do something about the steep revenue decline of their Personal Health businesses. You may not remember that Philips acquired the Lifeline business in 2006 for $750 million. What did they get for that investment? The leader in the “Medical Alert/Medical Alarm/PERS space.” You pick the term -- or let the search engine do it in order to show you each paid ad after paid ad.
You see PERS news releases on occasion. PERS -- Personal Emergency Response System -- is a long-time market dominated by pendants worn around the neck. Recently Parks Associates sized the PERS market to be $1.1 billion by 2024 -- others think it is a $3.1 billion market today. Also early in the year, Vidapoint was announced as a 'global' low cost offering. LifeStation announced Mobile LTE, small and fast, a pendant linked to a sizable 24-hour call center. Then in April, Verizon does it again, launches a PERS, this time a smart watch offering, called the Care Smart Watch for seniors. Let us remember Verizon’s last short attention span for this space. Its Sureresponse™ PERS pendant was new in this research conducted in 2012. The quotes are from executive Jonathan Hinds who departed in 2014, not coincidentally when Verizon stopped selling it. Sureresponse was mostly erased from the Internet by 2016, except for user documentation, online reviews, some not so hot.
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., April 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Staying connected with loved ones has never been more important. Today, Verizon introduced the Care Smart watch, designed for seniors to keep them connected while giving their loved ones peace of mind. The watch comes with its own phone number and a companion app (Verizon Care Smart), creating a simple way to stay in close contact with friends & family members. Starting April 16, you can preorder the Care Smart watch for $149.99 and receive $50 off with the purchase of a smartphone.*