Say you are in trouble and you need to call for help, but unfortunately sometimes our phones might not necessarily be quick enough to save us. For example we might have to unlock our phones which could take a couple of precious seconds, then we have to fire up an app, whether it be the phone dialer to call the police, or a messaging app to reach out to friends or family.
By that time all of that has happened, it might be too late. However it seems that over in India, the government has announced a new initiative in which it will require all phone makers selling phones in the country to include a panic button in devices from the 1st of January, 2017 onwards. The goal of the panic button is to help increase the security of women.
Now we’re not just talking about a software button, but rather phones are expected to come with a physical button that the person can press to send out a distress call. This means that companies like Apple will need to make actual hardware changes in order to accommodate this request, and we can imagine that for a company that takes its design so seriously, they won’t be too thrilled by it.
When the button is pressed, an alert will be sent to the nearest security agency based on your location who will then respond to the call. Unfortunately details of the plan are still a bit scarce at the moment, but potential design eyesore aside, it does sound like a good idea and one that will hopefully reduce the amount of crimes in the country.
Filed in . Read more about Safety.