Smart wearables are being tipped by industry insiders, tech experts and market analysts to be one of the next big things in consumer technology. A recent report from IDC actually predicted that the market for wearable tech will grow exponentially over the next four years, with 213.6 million units expected to be shipped globally in 2020. Just to give it some context, only 79 million such devices were reported to have shipped worldwide last year. That being the case, it isn’t exactly a surprise that the sector is seeing a lot of interest from established players and startups alike, with lots of product launches; some more innovative than others.
Personal safety has always been a concern for people living in urban environments, and some tech startups are now looking to address that issue with their new offerings. A smart ring in itself may not be the most innovative of products per se, but a smart ring which doubles as a panic button is certainly something of a recent phenomenon. We have already seen smart rings like Ringly and Altruis that can alert users about phone notifications coming through, but devices like the Nimb can do one better. Thanks to the magic of GPS, it can track the location of the wearer and send alerts to preset numbers when the user feels threatened enough to press it in order to report about their whereabouts to their loved ones. Now, however, it looks as if the Nimb smart ring may have a new competitor.
A Los Angeles, California-based tech startup seems all set to launch the Mangos smart ring that will apparently come with pretty much the same capabilities as the the Nimb, although, in a smaller and more discrete form-factor, if images posted on the company’s official website and social media accounts are anything to go by. The device will have an embedded Bluetooth module, and will be fully waterproof. Users will be able to alert their family and friends in their hour of need by pressing on the ring, but accidental presses can be negated within a three-second window. However, users will also be able to cancel the alert within 30 seconds of setting it off by going into the accompanying smartphone app.
The company behind the product describes itself as being “obsessed with putting an end to sexual assault, abductions and violent crime”, and its product will apparently launch on Kickstarter on the 21st of this month. The company says that each of its Mangos smart rings will cost $65, and that it is hoping to raise $30,000 from the crowd-funding website to fund its initial production run. There’s no word, however, on when the company plans to ship the device if everything else goes according to plan.