Guys at Kochi based MindHelix Technologies have come up with an App to address security concerns of Women. The App – Sentinel is designed for smartphones. It can send instant alerts in case of danger and is set to work in multiple scenarios including forced switch off of the mobile phone, improper exit and it can also trigger alert on signal loss for considerable time.
The alerts are triggered in three scenarios:
- Pressing the Alert Button
- Switching off the phone without exiting the application
- Network signal loss
The alerts consist of:
- Last known Location ( Latitude & Longitude )
- Direction of Travel
- The Journey Details (if any) entered by the traveler
The alerts are sent in three modes
- SMS from the device itself
- Email from the server
- SMS from the server ( fail safe in case of switch off/ signal loss )
The application requires an active internet connection and GPS facility in the phone. GPS (Global Positioning System) is needed to locate the person. It is a hardware feature of the phone. All mobile networks provide mobile internet connection. Sentinel requires internet connection for communicating with the server for logging in, updating locations. The application also traces the route being travelled on the map. This feature requires internet connection to be active so as to load the content.
Sentinel can be downloaded for free and is available for iPhone (awaiting iTunes acceptance), Android (version 2.1+), BlackBerry (OS 5+), Symbian S60, J2ME and Samsung Bada