Great ideas, I really hope they are able to come out with this. No idea why people would rate this as "negative" instead of "positive".
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Researching Methods for Facilitating Emergency Phone Calls
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
"I can't speak" or "Asthma Attack" buttons are incredibly hardcore.
I'm not sure about the patent thing. Every phone should have this as a standard feature.
I'm not sure about the patent thing. Every phone should have this as a standard feature.
Sounds like a plan for them. Now they need to get HAC (hearing aid compatibility) in the phone...
The accelerometer can't [directly] measure velocity, and the GPS isn't fine grained enough to tell the difference between a crash and a hard stop.
What would be possible -- in a utopian world where everybody loves and abides by standards -- would be for the car's own crash sensors to send out a beacon signal that could be picked up by any device nearby.
I think this is a really nice idea, but like others said I hope Apple doesn't keep other phone companies from using similar technology on their phones as this is a matter of life and death and not just business as usual.
I noticed a series of iPhone apps for getting emergency help in five major cities, for example New York. Even if you don't carry around an app like those, it might be a smart precaution to collect a few emergency numbers in your area and put them in your Contact list. I suggest putting them in their own Emergency group so they are easy to find.
Extending the Nike sensors
It'd be easy to extend the idea of the Nike sensors to medical sensors. Someone with a heart condition could have a wearable sensor. When their heart began to misbehaved, it could automatically dial a special number, providing an EKG and the GPS position, thus allowing the MD to dispatch medics.
It'd be easy to extend the idea of the Nike sensors to medical sensors. Someone with a heart condition could have a wearable sensor. When their heart began to misbehaved, it could automatically dial a special number, providing an EKG and the GPS position, thus allowing the MD to dispatch medics.
In the UK (and I presume elsewhere) several high-end cars come with an option of a system that detects if the vehicle has been in a serious crash, and if there's no user intervention within a short time, contacts the emergency services with a GPS location
Yeah, let's see....
First iPhone: Apple rewrites the book by taking extra revenue from your monthly bill, over and above the cost of the phone. This should've been your subsidy to lower the phone cost, but instead Apple takes it. Sweet for them.
One Year Later... Apple is forced back into regular phone maker mode, with subsidy money going to the customer instead.
Apple forces as many carriers as legally possible, to lock iPhones to that carrier, totally negating the major GSM advantage of being able to use local SIMs when traveling.
Five years ago, Jobs calls carriers "orifices" which control availability of apps. Now, he controls all iPhone app selection via his App Store... and takes all the profits... just like a carrier.
One year ago, Jobs makes fun of Blackberries and their single point of (email) failure. Now, he creates the same thing with the Apple server based push notification service. Oh and don't forget the iTunes activation process that drops dead during mass rushes.
The main thing he's done, is redirecting all profits and control to his own company. Same tune, different player.
Patent Protection
By filing for a patent they gain a little time in using it for a competitive advantage. Later they can license it to others, usually at a fairly small fee per phone. Because it is a safety issue, they might license it free as Mercedes Benz did with Anti-lock brakes back in 1978. They were the first to use them, and can always tout that fact, but released it for others to use. Apple could do the same thing here. While getting it to market in a future software release, Apple is protected from a competitor beating it to market. They can control the timing.
By filing for a patent they gain a little time in using it for a competitive advantage. Later they can license it to others, usually at a fairly small fee per phone. Because it is a safety issue, they might license it free as Mercedes Benz did with Anti-lock brakes back in 1978. They were the first to use them, and can always tout that fact, but released it for others to use. Apple could do the same thing here. While getting it to market in a future software release, Apple is protected from a competitor beating it to market. They can control the timing.
None of this is exactly innovative. Pre-recorded voice and text messages have been done before. It's a good idea, but has potential problems.
I was reading up on the topic, and came across these comments from a company that sells similar equipment:
I was reading up on the topic, and came across these comments from a company that sells similar equipment:
I know that BMW offers a system that could detect if the car had an accident, and if such an accident has been detected, a BMW operator can actually call your car and talk to you. If you don't respond or if you're able to speak and tell the operator that you're injured, the operator can make an emergency call with your exact position. The car's sensors can also tell the operator what kind of accident happened, how fast you've been, if the car has been deformed a lot etc. so the operator can get a clue of how injured you might be. I like the idea posted above that a car could start sending some kind of beacon signal that other cars in the proximity could receive and tell their drivers that there has been an accident nearby, so they can go there and help or call for help.