Tech startup Ringly has created a new way for women to keep up with notifications and messages from their smartphones. The ring connects to a smartphone through Bluetooth Low Energy, vibrates gently and displays different colored lights when the phone receives a notification.
Ringly is designed to look like an ordinary, fashionable ring. The rings are made with 18 karat gold and feature any one of a variety of semi-precious stones. Current options include Black onyx, Emerald, Pink sapphire and Rainbow moonstone. A small LED on the side of the ring lights up in different colors to distinguish between different notifications and the ring can also vibrate in different patterns.
Through the accompanying smartphone app, users can select which notifications to send to the ring and set different light colors and vibration patterns for each. Ringly is compatible with several of the most popular apps, including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Gmail. Ringly can also notify the user when it moves out of range of the bluetooth signal, indicating the smartphone may have been left behind.
Christina Mercando, the CEO of Ringly, indicated that the idea for the device originated from a personal struggle.
"I'm always missing calls and texts, and it started to get really frustrating to have to keep my phone out on the table at restaurants and in meetings," Mercando says. "I thought there just has to be a better way."
Ringly seeks to solve this problem in an unobtrusive way, allowing the user to choose which notifications are important enough to look at immediately, and which can wait until later. Mercando says that mothers could use the ring to be able to put the phone away on date night without missing a message from the babysitter.
The idea behind Ringly is to allow women to distance themselves from technology without completely disconnecting themselves from it. Mercando says Ringly will help people not worry so much about their smartphones and relieve the anxiety of potentially missing an important call or message.
The ring's battery lasts for two to three days, and is charged wirelessly by placing it back inside the ring box, which connects to a power source through a USB cable. Ringly is currently pre-selling for $145, and will have a final retail price of $195.
