In its quest to create a product for every buyer, Motorola has patented new technology targeted specifically at the elderly. Or rather, it is a phone that will respond to being used by the elderly. The phone has a user classifier which can determine whether a user is ‘elderly or subjectively elderly’. Once it has decided you are old, it automatically adjusts the volume of the phone, changes the phones frequency to higher ranges so that older ears can hear the rings and the tones, and brightens the displays so that they are easier to use.
The technology will allow Motorola to enter the potentially and increasingly lucrative elderly population which mobile makers have struggled to achieve the same success in that they have had in other demographics. There’s no word yet when the technology might appear in a phone, or how the handset will automatically detect the persons degree of hearing loss and personal configuration to their needs. If it shows up in a multimedia phone, video clips of Matlock should come pre-loaded.