Last week, Best Buy Health announced its new senior-focused flip phone dubbed Lively Flip, as the big retailer continues to dive into digital health efforts. This news comes roughly two years after it purchased senior-friendly phone Jitterbug’s parent company GreatCall.
The new phone is positioned as an “evolution” of the Jitterbug and is connected to Amazon Alexa voice services. This means that...
Fresh off the news of its acquisition by Best Buy, aging in place tech company GreatCall has announced the Jitterbug Smart2, the first update since 2016 to its line of smartphones for seniors. It was the original Jitterbug flip phone for seniors that first launched the company in 2006. Since then the company has grown to include a senior care call center and a line of personal emergency response...
GreatCall announced the launch of Jitterbug Touch 2, its second generation smartphone offering for older Americans. GreatCall's Jitterbug phones offer simplified user interfaces, cheaper data plans, and built-in health apps, all specifically geared to the older, less tech-savvy demographic.
The company, which recently partnered with Bosch Healthcare, launched the Jitterbug Touch in October 2012....
Global telehealth vendor Robert Bosch Healthcare Systems announced a partnership with GreatCall, which offers mobile health and personal safety technology for seniors. The goal of the partnership is to "develop and market an innovative line of mobile telehealth and mHealth solutions," according to a release from the companies.
"The partnership combines Bosch's evidence-based telehealth solutions...
San Diego-based aging in place technology platform provider Independa has inked a deal with GreatCall, which offers the Jitterbug mobile phone service for seniors, to bring the company's 5Star Urgent Response mPERS offering to its Artemis wireless monitoring platform. Independa has previously announced health and activity-related sensors will be a part of the platform. 5Star will become a feature...
San Diego-based GreatCall, which offers the 5Star cellular-enabled personal emergency response (mPERS) device and service as well as the Jitterbug mobile phone service, has raised $7 million in a venture loan from NXT Capital Venture Finance. GreatCall's existing investors include Charles River Ventures, Court Square Ventures, Nauta Capital, Steelpoint Capital Partners and Sumitomo.
GreatCall...
GreatCall, creators of the Jitterbug cell phone for seniors, announced its first iOS application for iPhone and iPad, called MedCoach. The free application marks a strategic departure for the company, which has been built on the premise that a faction of users were more interested in easy-to-use phones. The iOS app looks to help GreatCall reach a different customer base -- one that uses...
Wireless patient monitoring devices tied to a home-based connectivity hub are supposed to improve the quality of life and to prevent hospital readmissions for the elderly, people with chronic diseases and post-operative patients. But they have one serious flaw.
“They’re great until you go past the mailbox,” noted Madeline Pantalone, vice president for strategy and business development at...
By Laurie Orlov, Founder, Aging In Place Technology Watch
It's been more than 6 months since this blog post about tech trends that would influence product capability in 2010. It seems fitting to check status on what's happened so far, with another status check planned just prior to the new year:
1. Location-aware tech enables more info, greater safety. GPS became even more useful in 2009....
"Larger [wireless] carriers don't think mobile health is 'here' yet," Jitterbug parent company GreatCall CEO David Inns said during a presentation at the Mobile Health 2010 event at Stanford last month. "That's great news for us."
Inns explained that while the 65 year old and older demographic makes up about 15 percent of mobile users, the age group accounts for about 40 percent of all healthcare...
