Kids need phones with large buttons because they don’t yet have the ability to use small buttons. The elderly need large buttons because they’ve lost the ability. The iNo CP09 is a new GSM cell phone that’s perfect for both kids and the elderly.

It features a basic calculator-like screen with a large font display, large buttons, FM radio, torch light, a headphone jack, and text messaging. There is also an SOS button for emergency situations. The phone will send a text alarm to a configured number and will call that number.

The Go Computer takes computing and makes it simple and easy-on-the-eye. It’s designed for the older generation. You know, for when Grandma wants to get online. It shouldn’t be too hard for her to use with the large typeface keyboard with color coded keys, a trackball and a simple all-in-one architecture.

Just add power and a broadband connection. Granny will be chatting it up on the embroidery forums in no time. The actual brains of this computer is a desktop EeeBox PC attached to the back of the monitor.

We’re not surprised if you’ve never heard of the Celery fax-to-email service for the elderly. You’re hearing about them now, since the company’s rolling out Twitter and Facebook integration. The long and Short of it? It will help your grandmother tweet from her fax-machine.

Built around a Lexmark fax machine(Or your own) the Celery service allows you to send and receive emails, tweets, and Facebook status messages just by writing messages and faxing them out. Incoming messages can be printed out individually or in volume.

It’s one thing to get lost in a car, a town, a city. It’s something else entirely to get lost in a supermarket while driving a shopping cart. Apparently Grocery stores are more dangerous and confusing than any of us knew. Especially to the elderly. It’s a real concern. They get confused.

One minute you’re pushing your cart by the oatmeal, hitting a few stock boys with your cane, bitching about the government, talkin’ about the good old days when bread was 50 cents, when next thing you know you’re in the frozen food section with a pregnancy test in your 80 year old hand and a fresh fish sticking out of your purse. Wth?

The latest conceptual Sony MP3 player by Damien Crossan looks like a warped Wii nunchuk. It features a simplified interface with keys that are clearly laid out and raised. The high contrast screen features light text on a dark background, making it easy to read. Available in 4GB to 8 GB of storage space, the gadget also features FM radio.

This Sony MP3 concept would target the older generation who enjoy portable music but have a hard time with new devices due to stiff fingers, poor vision and complicated interfaces. If this one ever sees the light of day, retirement homes will never be the same.

Do you take a lot of supplements and vitamins, but have a bad memory? That’s where the MedSignals Smart Pillbox comes in handy. It lets you monitor all of your medications effectively, helping you avoid a situation where you might accidentally overdose or miss your pill altogether.

It also displays instructions associated with a particular pill so you won’t take it on an empty stomach etc. The MedSignals Smart Pillbox is a great device for seniors who are on their own. Here’s the sad part. It will cost you $199 and a monthly subscription fee.

You’ll have a hard time losing this model of remote from Zeon, since it is huge. It’s capable of controlling your TV, DVD and satellite box. Rest assured that no matter how fat in the fingers you are, you can still hit the buttons. No matter how far along you are in your glaucoma, you’ll see the buttons easily. The elderly may still lose it by forgetting, but it’s so big they’ll find it a few minutes later when it trips them on the floor. Just buy it for said older person, use the remote control codes to synch it up with your TV and DVD player etc, and you’re good to go. Still requires only 2 AA batteries and will cost you $18.

Robot developer tmsuk has unveiled a remote-control robot that will give you a new way to shop from the comfort of your posterior. It’s a prototype of the telerobotic shopper, which is a modified TMSUK-4 humanoid robot that has a variety of cellphone communications technology. They had a demonstration on July 10 at the Izutsuya department store in the city of Kitakyushu, Japan, where it probably made the male robot wait while it tried on clothes and asked if each one made it’s ass look fat.

In the demonstration scenario, a grandmother unable to go shopping with her granddaughter sent the robot to do it for her. Using an NTT DoCoMo video-capable cellphone, the grandmother controlled the robot and did some shopping through the robot’s camera eyes. Surely this is a hoax. A grandmother who can use a cell phone AND a robot? The woman maneuvered the robot to the hat section, eyed what was available, and had her granddaughter model a few for her before deciding which one to purchase.

When parents and grandparents start to age often one of the first things to go is their vision. Vision loss keeps many elderly people from being able to use the phone because of the small numbers and buttons that can be hard to locate and press.

A new device from The Vision Group addresses this problem by allowing users to dial phone numbers by pressing a button to the side of a photograph. The FotoDialer has six pages that each holds four photos. The numbers that correspond to the photos are stored in the devices memory and the FotoDialer connects to any home phone.

It’s a good idea to get the seniors in your life a phone that’s easy for them to use. Emporia’s Life Plus is the latest of elderly friendly phones that cater to those over 50 years old. It weighs 138 grams, with 250 hours of standby time, has a “super loud” handsfree speaker, oversized display and buttons, an integrated flash light, even a Hearing Aid compatible earpiece.

Another interesting feature is the single press ICE (’In Case of Emergency’) number dial/emergency SMS. For those, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up moments. They just need to work on meeting a senior’s budget, because at £144.67, it’s a bit expensive.

Honda is known for it’s cars and motorcycles, but the company’s sights reach into other areas as well. Now that they have their robot, Asimo walking on his own, Honda is using robotics technology for some other things. Like an experimental walking assist device for disabled or elderly individuals.

Honda will be showcasing the device at the International Trade Fair on Barrier Free Equipments & Rehabilitation for the Elderly & the Disabled. The device is available in three sizes and uses brushless DC motors powered by lithium ion batteries that will provide up to two hours of walking assistance per charge. The assimilation of our elderly will soon be underway. Soon after they will be flying around in giant Borg cubes and harassing the Enterprise.

The idea behind this tablet/pda device is not to lure the elderly into gaming with a cute device full of pretty icons.(though I’m sure that would work) It’s to track every movement the elderly make. Not because we fear them…they’re old. It’s because Nokia believes this is the best way to keep them around longer.

By monitoring what they consume via RFID tags; from expired foods, medicine, possible allergens and nutritional info. It could probably even tell you if they have been putting toys in their mouths while watching Matlock, like babies do. It’s easy to read and use and that’s the key. This pad hopes to be a vital tool for the upcoming explosion of elderly Baby Boomers.(Which is bound to be a mess. Baby Boomers explode with twice the power of your typical spontaneous combustion.)