Your smartphone's WiFi hotspot might double as a disaster rescue beacon

11 Mar 2014 • engadget.com

When disasters strike, communication services tend to go down; you can't simply call for help or share your location online. However, engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Information Technology have found a way to use a smartphone as a rescue beacon when there aren't any available networks. The researchers have written a victim app that inserts an SOS alert into the name of the phone's WiFi hotspot. Emergency crews just have to use a companion app to find you up to 330 feet away. It's a simple trick, to be sure.

This is a great idea.  Sounds like we need some type of standard and easy way to put any mobile device into "distress" mode.  Reminds me a little of the comm badges they wear in Star Trek almost 24/7 so the ship can locate you onboard no matter where you are.