While the world is more connected than ever before, there are still places that are absent of any cellular signal. These places, from the woods behind one's house to something as ubiquitous as an elevator in the middle of a busy city, are notable for making people disconnected from the mobile world.
In fact, regardless of how fancy a person's smartphone is, everything goes down the drain once the device's signal gets compromised. A unit might have all the latest versions of messaging apps installed on a phone, but without any signal, such applications are next to useless.
In cases of emergency, the lack of signal could potentially be disastrous. Thus, any form of innovation in this surprisingly un-crowded field is most welcome.
Such is the field that goTenna, a young tech startup founded by Brazilian-born brother-sister team Daniela and Jorge Perdomo, attempted to breach. The goTenna device basically solves the problem of having no cellular signal simply by creating its own, closed network that uses low-frequency waves, much like a traditional walkie-talkie.
Of course, using a technology such as goTenna's requires users who are communicating to have at least two units that are able to interact with each other. This is not a problem, however, as goTennas are sold in pairs for just $199.
Users would have absolutely no worry about being able to send messages in areas without cellular reception. Apart from sending messages, the goTenna units also enable users to send their locations to their designated pairs, immediately providing a user's exact location.
While the company is quite young, goTenna was nonetheless able to announce a $7.5 million Series A funding round on Wednesday, with investors such as MentorTech Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, Verizon subsidiary BBG Ventures and Kenneth Horowitz, co-founder of Cellular One, a company later bought by telecom giant AT&T.
Considering the state of the global economy still essentially in a bear market, the funding raised by goTenna is extremely impressive. Such a warm reception to an otherwise refined prototype is simply proof that the product definitely has potential.
Pairs of the goTenna units are on sale through the company's official website. Apart from this, the products are also set to go on sale exclusively in branches of REI, an outdoor equipment retailer, starting Wednesday.
