Microsoft
India today said it is introducing Guardian, a new safety application
(app), available exclusively for Windows phone users in India.
Incidents
such as 'Nirbhaya' prompted the global IT giant to come out with an app
aiming at protecting women, Microsoft-IT India managing director Raj
Biyani said.
Explaining
its features, Biyani said Guardian enables users to switch on a 'track
me' feature in the app that lets friends and family track them in real
time using Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs.
Guardian
users can call for help through an 'SOS' alert button and also connect
to security agencies, police and hospitals easily via this app in times
of distress.
The app
was developed over six months by a group of enthusiastic Microsoft
employees in India, within the Microsoft Garage. Microsoft Garage is a
global employee innovation initiative that gives Microsoft employees an
outlet to explore ideas in their free time, Biyani said.
"Our
employees wanted to do something to enable people to feel safer in our
cities. So they used their spare time to develop Guardian. It is a
robust personal security app with more safety features and capabilities
than any other comparable app available to Indian smartphone users
today," Biyani told reporters after launching the app.
To
use Guardian effectively, users need to add the names of friends,
family members and security groups to the settings and in an emergency
situation, the app can be used to alert them, via the SOS button. All
the user has to do is tap the SOS button, a Microsoft official said.
"The
phone then sends a distress SMS to all buddy mobiles, notifying them of
the emergency along with location details. At the same time the SOS
button also sends emails to buddy email IDs and posts to private
Facebook groups, if registered," the official said.
Guardian
uses Microsoft Windows Azure cloud services and Bing Map APIs
extensively and can help security authorities and medical teams track
the user. The phone can be traced even if it is broken. The application
is capable of one touch video recording that may be used later as
evidence, the official added.
