emporia Telecom acts to meet future challenges

• Creates Advisory Board of international experts
• Expands Western European, US and Russian markets
• Half million handsets sold in first half of 2011

19^th Sept 2011, London – Austrian telecommunications company emporia Telecom, is celebrating 20 years of business by looking forward to the future. It has appointed a new Advisory Board including John Clarkson from Cambridge University, Robert Bauer from the University of Linz, and Boris Nemsic, former CEO of Telekom Austria, to further international expansion and drive awareness for specially developed and manufactured easy to use mobile phones for older users.

According to Boris Nemsic, former CEO of Telekom Austria, due to the focus of larger manufacturers on the mass markets, network operators now need expertise on simplicity and security. “emporia has shown that with good ideas and uncompromising customer orientation it is possible to play a part in the extremely competitive environment of the global players,” he said.

Albert Fellner, emporia Telecom founder and Chairman of the Advisory Board, said:  “emporia has always been a pioneer of simple use in a world where mobile phones are becoming increasingly complex. We have never lost sight of the value of good design, developing devices that people can use every day. Convincing network operators, dealers, and salesmen was not always easy, but we know that emporia has now opened a door for consumers that are demanding easy to use mobile phones.”

Robert Bauer from the Institute for Organisational Behaviour at the Johannes Kepler University will encourage innovation and creativity to support international expansion in an extremely attractive niche market. He said, “The major challenge is to grow whilst still remaining fast and innovative.” Further penetration into the Western European market and expansion in Russia and the USA are expected to deliver strong company growth in the near term. In the first six months of 2011 emporia Telecom’s sales have already amounted to €50 million, with half a million mobile phones sold internationally.

John Clarkson, the Director of the Engineering Design Centre at Cambridge University said: “My aim is to bring the best ideas from research in the field of Inclusive Design and best practice in implementation closer together in new products by emporia.” This approach has already proved successful, even in well-developed markets such as the Netherlands. Eveline Pupeter-Fellner, Managing Director, emporia Telecom, said, “There are, despite 98 per cent of mature users already owning mobile phones, people who would still prefer simpler handling and security.”

The Arcci range includes a number of simple phones some with additional healthcare features. The CP21 which will be on display at the event has a pop up screen which allows the phone to be small while having a big screen and big buttons. There is a torch, emergency button and unusually a thermometer.

Founded in November 2000 in Shenzhen, now in Beijing, Chengdu, Shunde set up branch companies. In the 10 years’ history of development , Newplan specialized in  helping clients to improve  the brand and product competitiveness, and has won the Red Dot, iF and other global design awards several times.

Newplan is dedicated to delivering high quality design solutions to international clients including GE, Motorola, Thomson, Haier, Huawei, Lenovo, Mindray etc.  from market and user research, brand and product planning, product design, design result industrialization the whole process of product innovation  and in consumer electronics, home appliances, communications terminals, medical devices, industrial equipment.

Tech website Gizmondo has a bit of a thing for the Johns Phone and has put it head to head up against the iPhone.  Read what they think here..

Doro acquires Birdy Technology SAS, partially by way of an issue in kind, to further strengthen position in tele-assistance and mHealth

London, 01 September 2011: Doro acquires Birdy Technology SAS, partially by way of an issue in kind, to further strengthen position in tele-assistance and mHealth

Doro’s growth strategy includes developing, on the basis of its success with mobile phones for seniors, its offering of health-related products and services for older people via mobile phone technology (referred to as mHealth).

In accordance with this strategy, Doro has, in addition to the recently announced acquisition of Prylos SAS, also acquired the French-based company Birdy Technology SAS, which operates within the area of tele-assistance. This strengthens Doro’s involvement with the upcoming mHealth services, extending the company’s opportunities for continued growth. The acquisition is being implemented by Doro and wholly-owned subsidiary Doro SAS.

Birdy Technology is a company consisting of two people that was established in 2008. As its main product, Birdy Technology develops a fixed GSM gateway which, via the mobile network connects various sensors (fall sensors, wrist alarms, smoke detectors, etc.) to a call center when the sensors are triggered. In this way, seniors’ everyday lives are made safer and more comfortable, while relatives are granted peace of mind.

Xavier Corbin, the CEO and founder of Birdy Technology SAS, has 20 years of experience in the tele-assistance market. He will remain within the Doro group for at least three years and will be in charge of developing the Group’s tele-assistance business on a global basis.

Birdy Technology’s customers include both private and public home-tele-assistance companies in France. The company is expected to generate sales of approximately EUR 1.2 million in 2011. Read more at www.birdy-technology.com.

“The acquisition of Birdy Technology represents an opportunity for Doro to strengthen its offer in tele-assistance, forming a solid platform from which to add mHealth services at a later stage. Xavier Corbin’s expertise in the field of tele-assistance will help us develop our position in this market.” says Doro’s CEO Jérôme Arnaud. “We perceive growth and cost synergies with Birdy with whom we have much in common in terms of technologies and potential customers,” he continues.

The purchase price for Birdy Technology amounts to approximately EUR 1.29 million, of which about EUR 0.61 million will be paid in cash to non-executive shareholders and EUR 0.68 million in the form of 241,543 newly-issued Doro shares to Xavier Corbin in exchange for his shares in Birdy Technology. The share issue, which will result in a dilution of 1,3 percent, is made in accordance with the authorization to Doro’s Board of Directors approved by Doro’s 2011 Annual General Meeting. As a result of the share issue, the number of shares in Doro will rise by 241,543 shares, to 19,349,174 shares, and the share capital will increase by SEK 241,543 from SEK 19,107,631 to SEK 19,349,174.

Xavier Corbin has subscribed for the newly-issued shares at a subscription price of SEK 25.56 per share. The subscription price has, pursuant to the share transfer agreement entered into with the shareholders of Birdy Technology, been based upon the average stock price of Doro’s shares during a period of ten business days prior to the date of the Board of Director’s resolution regarding the share issue. The share issue is subject to registration with the Swedish Companies Registration Office.

An additional purchase price of approximately EUR 0.46 million, but not totaling more than EUR 0.6 million, will be paid to Xavier Corbin provided that certain significant and well-defined sales targets are met during a three-year period. Payment of the additional purchase price is conditional on Xavier Corbin remaining employed by Birdy Technology or Doro SAS at the time of payment. Payment shall be made annually and may, according to Doro SAS’ choice, be made in cash or in the form of newly-issued Doro shares.

The effect of the acquisition on Doro’s financial position and earnings in 2011 is expected to be marginal.

Graham Andrews over at IDF50 (I don’t feel 50), is pondering the reason for the slow uptake of the older generation using smartphones. You can read his piece here. One of the things everyone will agree with is that “it’s stupid to look at people just by their age and include everyone in one huge sector from 50 plus to 100 plus.” And there are clearly plenty of people well over 50 who are gadget geeks and extremely comfortable with technology and the benefits it brings. Indeed there has been a discussion on this over at Sagazone.

In his article Graham looks at the cost and ease of use aspects of smartphones. It’s worth reading and Graham and I would welcome your comments here

You can watch his presentation here:

Understanding the Japanese Senior market from Simon Rockman on Vimeo.

The Beafon S700 is a pleasure to use. It’s fit and finish is a notch above the majority of mobiles in the Senior Market.

Beafon has been selling phones for seniors for quite a while and has a good appreciation of what makes an attractive phone. The S700 is unusual in that it’s not only a GSM mobile phone but a DECT (Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications) cordless landline phone.

The phone has two numbers, which has the potential to be quite confusing but in practice works out well.

The phone is quite small at but has a decent sized keypad. This means that the screen is smaller than would be ideal.  The screen and keypad both however have a quality feel. Best of all the phone is quite heavy for its size. It’s a myth that lighter phones are better, what matters is the density. The perceived quality of a phone has a lot to do with the way it feels in the hand. It’s why a Zippo lighter feels better than a Cricket one. The S700 has a great dense feel which exudes quality.

On the front there are the number keys, an up/down cursor, call and hang up keys. Two soft keys are clearly linked to captions on the screen above them. On one side there are the volume controls and a keypad lock slider on the other a button for the torch. On the back there is an SOS button.

The bottom has a connector for an industry standard micro USB (Universal Serial Bus) adaptor which is used to charge the phone. This is the one used by pretty much every new phone except an Apple and it means anyone who has bought their phone in the last couple of years will have a charger to fit. The eventual aim of the phone industry is to sell phones without chargers, partly to reduce the clutter of chargers we all suffer from, partly to be green in making fewer parts but mainly to save money. Micro USB for all it’s good points is quite an awkward connector, it’s fiddly and has to be the right way around. The S700 counters this with its DECT docking station. This plugs into the mains and your phone line and is a quick, easy way to charge the phone.

Volume, keypad lock and bluetooth are all easy to access

The keypad has a particularly good action. This is rare with all kinds of phones at all prices. Indeed some of the most expensive phones which are touch screen or had tiny qwerty keyboards are horrible to dial on. The S700 is among the best I’ve used – and I’ve reviewed over 300 phones.

The screen while small is however very bright which makes it easy to read and numbers are displayed double size. Only when you have to dial an unusually long number or have long names in the phone book does the text become single height. For very long text it scrolls from right to left. A bigger screen, of this quality, would have been nice.

What makes the phone special, however is the combined mobile and land line features. When you dial a number, after pressing the red ‘call’ button the phone asks if you want to make a DECT call or a GSM call. This will determine which line it calls out on, what the number the person at the other end sees and which bill you’ll be charged on. If you are out of the house and range of the DECT base station the phone won’t ask but will just make a GSM call. If you are somewhere in the house without mobile coverage but in range of the base station it will just make a DECT call.

There are some interesting benefits in the schizophrenic nature of the S700. It has both Bluetooth and hearing aid support. While it’s normal for mobiles to offer this it’s quite unusual for DECT phones, a few offer one or the other but I don’t know of any others that offer both. If you have a Bluetooth headset or car kit you can use it with the phone. There is also a wired headset which is supplied.

But perhaps the greatest bonus is the different way you use a mobile to the way you use a house phone. A DECT phone tends to live in the charger, a mobile phone in a pocket or bag. If you only occasionally use your mobile you’ll often find that when you do want to do so, when you look for it before you leave the house it will be flat.

Because the natural home for the S700 is in the docking station, like a DECT phone, you’ll know where to find it and it will always be fully charged. And if you’ve left it lying around the house and can’t find it there is a ‘page’ button on the docking station which makes the phone ring.  Similarly it’s unusual to have a torch on a DECT phone. having a torch which is both to hand and charged is great if there is a power cut.

Before I used the Beafon S700 I was curious to see how well it worked, I thought it would be interesting but I really didn’t expect to like it quite as much as I do.

The S700 is available from Fuss Free Phones, the company I run as a sister venture to Senior Market Mobile for £149 inc VAT, postage and packing.

The article focuses on the overlap between devices for seniors and healthcare. The full article is on the FT’s website.