#bluetooth panic button

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4qaQKAwN8Q)

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6mxDjjXjek)

www.reactmobile.com | KIRKLAND, Wash. -- A Kirkland startup has created a new device that they believe could save a live.

It's a simple device that sends distress messages with the touch of a button, and the whole thing is the product of a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Realtor Scott Whittlesey often shows homes to complete strangers, and he said he's been involved in some uncomfortable situations. But now he carries a Sidekick, which is a new high-tech, one-touch panic button that can alert police if he's in trouble.

"That gives me the piece of mind to go out and do this," he said.

Cyclist Shannon Kehoe wears a Sidekick for another reason.

"My mom would always be worried about me, but I love being out there on my own," Kehoe said.

The React Mobile app that connects with the Sidekick has a "follow me" feature that allows friends and family to keep track of where Kehoe is in real time.

"Having this, my mom can check in on me and have piece of mind that I'm doing ok," she said. "It's also a big safety feature for me in case anything happens."

The Sidekick is the brainchild of Kirkland-based startup React Mobile. The device can call 911 from your phone in seconds, but everything is cancelable with a swipe, and all tracking information disappears.

"This is really important because now there's not a whole network of people that can track your whereabouts," said React Mobile CEO Robb Monkman.

www.reactmobile.com | SEATTLE -- Regardless of the campus, there's always a concern for our students.  Emergency call boxes and personal cell phones can summon help quickly, but in some cases these devices just aren't handy enough or practical.    Seattle-based React Mobile first created a personal safety app and now it's adding the Sidekick; a Bluetooth-enabled, handheld device that acts as a personal panic button.

The app that goes with it is free and offers a way to alert your designated contacts where you are and/or if you need help.  It also provides tracking.  

"My daughter uses it.  She says she's going to go for a run and she's going to be gone for an hour and I track her," said Rob Bangerter, with React Mobile.

And now, he said their new Sidekick adds a layer of protection; a panic button that will alert your contacts to an emergency and send a text or email to emergency 911, where that technology's available.

"If you were to pull your phone out and start typing if somebody was attacking you, they would know what you were trying to do," Bangerter said. "Where if you had this (the Sidekick) in your hand and you were to press the button, the person wouldn't know what was going on."  To work, the sidekick must be within 150 feet and direct line of sight with the cell phone it's paired with.  React Mobile is currently testing it on the Seattle University campus.  The company gave the device to 100 summer school students at SU use in a pilot program.      

"With the device, it just makes it a little bit more accessible when it's like on your side," said Carlos Rodriguez, a junior at Seattle University. "I carry it with me on my keys, but I've never felt the need to use it."

Tim Marron, director of Public Safety and Transportation on campus said it gives people a more flexibility when they're out and about on and off campus.  The university is going to evaluate this summer's test in considering the React Sidekick as an addition to campus security.

The Sidekick device costs $60 and must be paired with the app to work.  The company tells us that they're seeing a number of professionals using it, including realtors, home health care workers and others who tend to be out and about alone for work