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The modern Emporia Connect senior phone (hands-on pictures)

The Connect is a mobile phone for seniors that works in conjunction with the EmporiaMe app, which lets your loved ones manage the handset from their own smartphones.

Lynn La
Lynn La covers mobile reviews and news. She previously wrote for The Sacramento Bee, Macworld and The Global Post.
Lynn La
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1 of 6 Lynn La/CNET

Connect springs to Europe

BARCELONA, Spain--Emporia, an Austrian phone company, demoed its newest phone for seniors, the Emporia Connect during MWC. It will roll out in Europe this spring, with plans to launch in the U.S. afterward.

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2 of 6 Lynn La/CNET

2.8-inch display

Altogether, it measures 4.25 inches tall, 2.09 inches wide, 0.79 inch thick, and weighs in at 3.88 ounces. When you open the device up, you'll see a 2.8-inch TFT display with a 240x320-pixel resolution.

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3 of 6 Lynn La/CNET

Easy-to-press buttons

The generously sized number pad includes call and end call buttons, up and down navigational buttons (with the down key doubling as a shortcut to the address book), and buttons for favorite contacts, the menu, and camera. Below the number pad is a power button.

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4 of 6 Lynn La/CNET

Physical shortcut keys

On the right edge are two shortcut keys: one to open up the camera, and the other to turn on the camera's flash and use it as a flashlight.

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5 of 6 Lynn La/CNET

In case of an emergency

This heart button is for emergencies. Once pushed, it will begin dialing five preprogrammed numbers consecutively until it gets an answer.

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6 of 6 Lynn La/CNET

Capacity capabilities

The device works with a smartphone app called EmporiaMe. This app will allow a relative or carer to manage the Connect's contacts, photos, calendar, and reminders through his or her own smartphone. It also has a microSD card slot that's capable of holding up to 2GB of expandable memory.

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