OFF THE WIRE
http://www.thejc.com/news/israel-news/51047/israeli-creates-iphone-app-send-sos-signals
Israeli creates iPhone app to send SOS signals
By Jennifer Lipman, An Israeli developer has created an iPhone application to save the day after a road crash – wherever you are in the world.
The Mayday Light software uses GPS technology to identify when phone users have had car or motorcycle accidents. It monitors speed and if a vehicle suddenly stops it sends out a distress signal.
If a user fails to respond to the signal within a minute, email alerts are sent automatically with the location to five people. The idea is that in an emergency, the app will mean help can arrive on the scene more quickly.
Meidad Pariente, an engineer, came up with the idea after his daughter was involved in a car crash one New Year's Eve. "She was too upset and scared to call home," he explained. "We didn't know anything until she got back.
"We were lucky because she did get home, safe and sound, but we would have preferred to know right when it happened so that we could have helped her."
As well as the original version, Mr Pariente has created a more expensive version which sends out text messages as well as emails.
