Gabb Wireless made its way into the safe technology space with a phone geared toward children, blocking out unneeded apps, internet connectivity, and overall screen time. The Lehi-based company announced on Tuesday that it will be releasing its newest product, a smartwatch that allows younger children to stay connected as well.
“A few years ago there was an article that came out and said about 25% of 6-year-olds had a cell phone, which is pretty absurd if you think about it,” said Colin Cole, managing director of Gabb wearables. “I saw this big gap in the market, where you’re old enough to need to communicate but you’re too young for it. We just thought, ‘Why don’t we make this really safe product, kids won’t lose it because it’s going on them and have it be pretty much a phone and a GPS?’ All the things that parents want and that kids want as well, so we’re trying to kind of fill that gap with kids age 6 to 11 before they get a phone.”
Cole said this idea came to him while working for a previous employer. While working, Cole traveled to China and saw that almost every child ages 6-12 had a smartwatch as their main contact device. Parents liked it because it allowed the children to connect with them while also offering minimal distractions.
That need was seen in the U.S., and Cole set out to make a durable product that could hit an untouched market.
With that in mind, some of the features Cole came up with included an active GPS tracker, an SOS button the child could use if there is an emergency, limiting the watch to 10 whitelisted contacts, allowing for safe zones where a parent would be notified if the child leaves the area, and unlimited calling and texting.
Another part of the phone is a game called Gabb Go, which allows children to take care of themselves while also caring for a virtual pet. Based on the child’s total steps taken and completed tasks or objectives, the child can earn coins to put toward their virtual pet.
This step for Gabb, producing a smartwatch, gives the company a wider range of ages to hit with its products.
“So we produce age-appropriate tech for the right maturity of a young man or young woman,” Gabb Wireless Vice President of Marketing Lance Black said. “We go upstream, like for example on our phone we have different plans that allow parents to choose different levels of access to the phone. So as we go upstream, if you will, with the age of the child and we’ll continue to release products and services that allow us to keep the person until they’re 14, 15, 16, 17 years old. The watch now allows us to go, if you will, downstream to get (children) 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 years old and if you look at Gabb as a company, we will own the safe tech for kids space all the way from 4, 5, 6 years old and up until the mid-teenage years and beyond.”
Black added that the company has some more product ideas that are aimed at providing peace of mind for parents while connecting children to safe products to utilize, just like the smartwatch and cell phone.
The main objective is to connect and protect, according to Black.
“The thing that we’re really trying to drive is just the most affordable and extremely superior product,” Cole said. “So, best in class product for the best price, and I think that we’ve done that with our phone and with our watch. We want every family to be able to afford it and for it to provide peace of mind, but then be fun for kids as well.”
The watch is set to retail for $99, with the pre-order price being $69. Current Gabb customers can pre-order the watch now and the general public can pre-order the watch starting June 30.
June 19, 2021 at 01:00AM
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Gabb Wireless set to release smartwatch, which triples as phone, GPS tracker - Daily Herald
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Smartwatch
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