IBM Begins Project to Make Cell Phones Easier to Use for Elderly, Illiterate

IBM (News - Alert) announced Wednesday that it has begun work on a two-year research program to make cell phones easier to use for the elderly and other populations for whom using traditional phones is a challenge.

In a partnership with the National Institute of Design of India and Tokyo University, IBM will collaborate on materials that will be made available on an open source basis, according to reports.

Telecom gurus told reporters the IBM program addressed a genuine need.

 

“As the population in Europe and North America ages, the need for specialized mobile devices will become acute,” said Ben Wood, research director at British consultancy CCS Insight. “Phone (News - Alert) makers will have to adapt if they want to appeal to a generation that has grown up with mobile devices, but can't use them in the ways they used to,” he said.