Hasta La Gadget!

A long time ago we looked at the SPOT Satellite Messenger, a product designed to help people stay safe and in-touch with friends and loved ones if they were camping, off-roading, or traveling somewhere cellular signal or wireless Internet access weren’t necessarily available. 

The SPOT Messenger allowed you to “check in” at a GPS location via the SPOT satellite network, and have your location and a short message posted to the service or sent directly to friends and family so they knew you were okay.

At CES this year, SPOT unveiled the SPOT Connect, a smartphone peripheral that pairs with your phone and gives you the same ability, even if you have no cellular signal. You simply download the SPOT app, pair the phone with the SPOT Connect device, and you can send short e-mail, SMS messages, even Twitter and Facebook updates via SPOT’s satellite network. 

If there’s an emergency and you need to call for help, just press the SOS button and police and medical authorities in your vicinity will be notified, complete with your GPS coordinates so they can find you quickly. The SPOT Connect will be available later this year, although no specific release date was announced. It’ll set you back $169.99 retail, plus the cost of a SPOT subscription.