Samsung’s W7100 Alarm Phone Shrieks for Protection

The Korean handset sounds an earsplitting alarm and notifies the authorities of your location when you a pull an emergency ring.

Until somebody builds a gun, knife or pepper spray into a cell phone (which we imagine might cause some safety problems), Samsung’s W7100 is the next best thing to thwart evildoers. The new handset, unveiled today in Korea, sports a 100-decibel alarm and other safety features designed to ward off the riff raff.

Just like an old-school personal alarm, the W1700’s cry is activated by pulling a giant ring that hangs off it on a string. Quite unlike that classic alarm, the phone also uses GPS to pinpoint your location at the time and alert authorities when the siren goes off. The hope, of course, is that the alarm (supposedly audible within 230 feet) will send crimianals running, and if not, the digital transmission will get cops to your location as quickly as possible.

To play up the cute factor, Samsung also built an array of 36 LEDs into the lid of the phone, which can be programmed to show different characters, custom icons, or preprogrammed Samsung favorites like a cat or a baby whale.

The device will go on sale in Korea on March 13, but unlike many novelties that stay confined to Asia, this one looks destined for the U.S. at some point. It already passed FCC screening back in December, so listen for the scream of one near you soon.