Time-tested tech: The Linc Moto Mod turns your smartphone into a walkie-talkie

If you thought the cellphone was an improvement upon the walkie-talkie, think again. Apparently, we’ve made so much progress we’re now going in circles.

Meet the latest Moto Mod, one of the many add-ons to a Motorola smartphone that will allow you to transform your handset into something a little … extra. It’s called the Linc and it is branded as a smart walkie- talkie attachment. That is right: You can now attach a walkie-talkie to your phone. Redundant or brilliant?

The Linc is the result of a contest Motorola launched in November to drum up interest around its Moto Z. So now, when you get bored by your cell phone’s capacity to connect you to distant friends and family, perhaps you will be excited by its capacity to help you communicate with folks that are nearby. You see, the Linc lets you chat with people in areas where there isn’t any cell phone coverage, provided that they are within five miles of you.

The Linc supports 22 channels and features SMS, GPS location sharing, and an emergency alert button that will send out an SOS signal should you be distressed. It’s also capable of communicating with two-way radios by way of its radio-over-IP gateway and its 1,500mAh battery lasts 20 hours on standby.

Really, it seems as though Linc is best suited for outdoor enthusiasts who may need a walkie-talkie to stay connected to friends and family members on a remote hiking expedition. The Linc team points out that the device differentiates itself from other walkie-talkies on the market by way of its slim design that “barely changes the look of the typical smartphone.” Of course, it barely changes the functionality either.

That said, even though Linc is meant to work with the Moto Z, you can actually use the attachment with any Bluetooth-enabled device. If you are keen to get one of these yourself, you can order one from Indiegogo for $99. As of publication on Friday, the campaign has raised 13 percent of its $12,000 goal.