“Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” If you watched TV at all during the 90′s, you no doubt remember those old Life Alert commercials featuring an elderly woman shouting for help. The idea behind the device being advertised was that with a press of the button you could have assistance brought to your home. Well the companies ZTE and Softbank have teamed up to bring an update to that classic gadget.

No, this isn’t actually another Life Alert product, but it sure reminds me of one. This small device is about as simple as you get, with a button, and a pull-ring as the only real methods of input. A press of the button sends out emails to a pre-programmed selection of friends and relatives. This tells them exactly where you are and that you need assistance. How does it send the information? Well the gadget is actually a dumbed-down cell phone, and uses the data connection to transmit messages.

The pull-ring will activate an audio alarm to alert the people in the area that you need help. Not a very high-tech feature, but an essential one nonetheless.