Last November,听we told you about goTenna, a palm-sized device that听pairs to an听iOS or听Android phone and allows you to text anyone who also has a goTenna, even without a cell or WiFi connection. Now there鈥檚 , which lets you text 补苍诲听make calls, effectively听turning your phone into an off-the-grid Walkie-talkie.
鈥淵ou can have one颅-to-颅one or one-颅to-颅many conversations, like in a conference call,鈥 says Beartooth CEO and co-founder Michael Monaghan, who听helped the company secure $3 million in funding.
Beartooth, which uses a radio signal to send communications听between devices, also taps into your phone鈥檚 GPS chip to locate everyone on the network on a map. You have to pre-download the 24K-resolution maps, but they鈥檙e free听and are detailed enough to show contour lines.
Monaghan and his co-founder Kevin Ames came up with the idea for Beartooth while skiing,听but hope people use it in the developing world where there鈥檚 no cell service. It might also be used in crowded urban networks or during natural disasters.
The only drawbacks? A pair at retail costs $400 ($250 for the next 30 days)鈥攐r double what goTenna sells for. And Beartooth only has a two-mile range, compared to goTenna鈥檚 six-mile one. But if voice communication is important, and you鈥檙e in range, the convenience factor is huge.
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