ZOMM, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company, is displaying what it describes as the first wireless tether for cellphones at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) here.<\/p>\n
The ZOMM is a Bluetooth device about the size of a poker chip that attaches to a keychain or can be clipped on to a belt.<\/p>\n
“It’s the world’s first wireless leash for the mobile phone,” said Zac Penix, the son of the company’s founders Henry and Laurie Penix.<\/p>\n
“It tethers to your phone via Bluetooth and it’s going to notify you whenever you walk out of Bluetooth range, around 30 feet (nine meters),” he told AFP.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to vibrate, flash a light and an audible alarm will say ‘Hey, go back and get your mobile phone!” Penix said.<\/p>\n
The ZOMM also does call notification. If your phone can’t be immediately located, the device lights up, rings and acts as a speakerphone.<\/p>\n
Penix said the ZOMM can also serve as a panic alarm or medical alert. Holding down the single button will automatically dial emergency services.<\/p>\n
“Via speakerphone you can talk directly to emergency services without having to find your phone,” he said.<\/p>\n
ZOMM, which will be available in the second half of the year at a suggested retail price of 80 dollars, was a winner of a CES 2010 “Best of Innovations” Award.<\/p>\n