Emporia Reveals Cell Phones For The Elderly

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Emporia is an Austrian company who’s focus is producing mobile phones that are simple and easy to use for elderly people. While they’re not 1GHz Android-powered smartphones, they do have large buttons, big-text screens and earning aid compatibility – all of which are important to the elderly market.

Back at the Mobile World Congress earlier this month, Emporia showed off two new models for the “young at heart” crowd. The first is the Emporia Solid, which is a bit ruggedized. It can resist water, dirt, and can be dropped from a reasonable height and still function properly. It has an 1.8-inch OLED screen (that’s right, your grandparents could get an OLED screen on their mobile phone before you) and will offer 250 hours of standby battery time.

The other new phone is the Emporia Elegance which is being marketed as the bit more classy of the two new offerings. It’ll have the same 1.8-inch OLED display and will offer an extra-loud speakerphone function, along with a hearing aid compatibility mode. It will have the ability to send SMS (text) messages, too. Unlike the Solid, it’ll come with a car charger and belt clip.

The Emporia Solid will come out in Q3 2010 for €199 ($270) before subsidies. The Emporia Elegeance will come out a bit sooner in Q2 2010 for €129 ($175) before subsidies. Without using them, these seem to be decent phones in a small, but important market niche.