Connecting for Safety! For your adventurous activities!
The basic idea of Channel16.me is to introduce a new way of connecting & communicating with your surroundings during your outdoor activities. When you're sailing, hiking, climbing, mountain biking, paragliding, ... you often need both hands. That's why a smartwatch app is perfect for such purposes.
On the Channel16.me Watchface, you see other Channel16.me users in your vicinity on a nifty radar view, just by looking at the watch - to feels safe and connected. In case you have a problem, you can reach other people nearby quickly, and in case someone else has a problem, they can reach you quickly.
Background:
Most other messengers out there, like WhatsApp, Voxer, ... are there to communicate between your contacts.
Channel16.me is a location-based messenger that allows you to communicate with other people in your area purely based on location. It is the world's first true Walkie-Talkie for smartphones: Audio, text/chat messages, and photos can be broadcasted to other people in your area based on your location.
Channel16.me consists of a companion app (Android) called Channel16.me (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.channel16) and a Watchface for Galaxy Gear, that let's users see who else is in the area on a nifty radar view, just by looking at the watchface.
Especially during dangerous outdoor activities, it always feels good to know if there is someone nearby who can help if anything happens.
Where does the name come from? Channel 16 VHF (very high frequency) is the most important radio frequency on the marine radio band. The "real" Channel 16 on real radio Walkie-Talkies is used to establish a radio connection with others, like with another ship, or with the harbor master. It is also used to broadcast distress calls such as mayday, pan-pan, securite or other urgent safety messages.
Features of the Gear Watchface:
- Next to the current time and date, you can see a radar view of other people in your area.
- There is a Settings screen where you can change your Range/Horizon (i.e. if you are using Channel16.me on a lake, you might choose a Range/Horizon which covers the size of the lake - like 20km)
- You can set the update frequency as well
Features of the Android host app:
- Broadcast voice & audio messages & photos to other people in your area
- See other people on a map
- Various privacy settings: you can hide your location (other won't see you on a map) or blurr your location
- You can block anonymous users as well.
- Great for Talking Skip!
The App Channel16.me has been developed by mobile & wearable software enthusiasts from Salzburg, Austria, and Sapporo, Japan. It started at a Hackathon in San Jose in Fall 2012, where we won a 3rd place - and kept developing every since. To get more information and to read about our developer API, check out http://channel16.me
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