The Icephone

A U.K.-based mobile phone maker plans to start selling next year a novel smartphone originally built for the British military called the Icephone. PC World reports.

The handset gains its name from an "ICE button" just below the typing pad. Hitting the button notifies emergency services that the user is in trouble, gives them the phone's location via GPS, and provides them with the user's complete digital medical records, identification and other data.

The phone is rubbery, has a ruggedized casing that enables it to withstand drops of up to 1.2 meters and can survive in rain, snow or being dropped in the ocean, said Graham Gilmour, from The Medical Phone, of Edinburgh.

His company has just started manufacturing the smartphones and plans to sell them in the second quarter of next year for under US$1,000.

emily | 10:50 AM | News, Buzz |
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