Think of the people that would buy an Android Wear device: Android fans, developers, and all-around geeks (in the most loving way). Who would buy a Samsung Gear: Samsung owners. And who would buy a Pebble smartwatch: Apple users feeling left out. Which group is the one unaccounted for (except Windows Phone of course); Children and their parents. Many people forget that some of the big important people in this world that make the business happen are husbands, wives, mothers, and fathers, with families at home. Kids grow up in this digital world that has as many e-threats as real-world ones. Cyber security and early lessons on being safe online can do a lot for e-threats, but what about the real world? LG has an answer for that question now.
Introducing LG’s latest wearable: KizON, the wearable designed for kids. The idea is genius, and allows parents to send their kids to school with a mind at ease, knowing they are connected to their children for whenever they should need them. What if the child needs to know that dad will be at home instead of mom, or his sister went home sick? KizON has a one-step direct call feature allows push-to-talk-like functionality for the parent and child. And if the child needs to let dad know to come pick her up at the end of the street instead of the corner, the child can press the direct call button and dial a pre-configured (and reconfigurable) number and make the call.
And if the child doesn’t answer the call from the pre-assigned list of important numbers after ten seconds, the parent can listen in through the microphone built into KizON. So if your child is in class or eating a snack, you can know that, instead of wondering if he’s snacking or being taken. The safety of the child, more than just the reachability, is key to LG and their KizON device as well. The KizON has location features built in, so the parent can get periodic updates about where the child is. But the big part of the KizON that makes it great for kids as well as parents is the battery life, which is rated for 36 hours, and that’s rather impressive since the device uses always-on technology to give constant updates and access to the parents.
‘But what about the specs?’ you say. Well, the LG KizON has a 400mAh battery, 64MB of RAM and 125MB of system memory (ROM), and is conveniently sized at only 266 cubic centimeters, so the child never has the bulk of a tracker, but the usability of a wearable. The device will be available in blue, pink, and green, for a full spectrum of choice by the kids, and will connect via 2G and 3G signals to have all these great features. LG will publicly debut the KizON on July 10 in South Korea, with North American and European releases to follow in the third quarter of this year. As those events come up, pricing and availability will be announced locally for each area.
