The Silver Economy: start-ups reinvent smartphone for the elderly

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A British start-up backed by some of the world’s largest technology groups is aiming to reinvent the smartphone for elderly users -- to address a market that the United Nations suggests may be one-fifth of the population by 2020.

Zone-V, a Cambridge group founded by former Nokia executives, is about to complete a fundraising round to support the launch of a range of devices that would help people who are partially sighted or hard of hearing. Among them is a new smartphone that will use sensory innovations to make it easier for elderly people to use. Smartphone technology has developed at such a pace that many elderly consumers feel left behind, and struggle to handle ever thinner handsets offering a bewildering array of apps and user interfaces.


The Silver Economy: start-ups reinvent smartphone for the elderly