What Is GrandPad? Consumer Cellular Now Offers Tablet For Senior Citizens

Consumer Electronics Inc. has added a new product to its lineup. Called GrandPad, the new tablet is specifically designed for senior citizens who are easily intimidated by the iPad and other tablets on the market.

Bloomberg reported Monday that Consumer Cellular, the wireless service provider that targets customers over the age of 50, is now offering the GrandPad to its clients. With its simplified user interface, the GrandPad is the perfect tablet for senior citizens who prefer basic features on their devices.

The GrandPad is described as an 8-inch tablet that’s capable of viewing photos and videos, supports gaming apps and has video chat, email and calling functionality. It also plays music and supports more than 20 personalized content feeds. The device comes with a special stylus for seniors and a charging cradle that has an extra-long, eight-foot cord.

Photos and videos can be added to the GrandPad in several ways, according to its official website. The most simple one is by receiving them from family members via the free GrandPad companion app. The tablet also supports social media apps, so images and clips shared on Facebook and Instagram can be viewed on the device. Another way is by attaching files to emails. And lastly, the family admin can send photos in bulk through the GrandPad Central Family admin website.

The GrandPad is very different from Apple’s iPad, which has an interface designed to attract users below 65 years of age. To ensure that owners of the GrandPad won’t have any difficulty in using the device, each tablet is set up and ready for use without numerous configuration options that the iPad and other tablets have. The only configurable aspect of the device is its sound volume, which can be altered using the physical volume keys.

To make the GrandPad even more appealing to its target market, Consumer Cellular is adding a specially designed version of Lyft’s app to the device this summer. The simplified version will allow senior citizens to catch rides using preset addresses and destinations. For instance, they can press buttons that read “church” or “home” and Lyft could take them to their chosen destination. The app will also notify caregivers if their patients have already reached their destinations safely.

Consumer Cellular invested in the California startup that built the GrandPad last December. The fruit of that investment is becoming the carrier to exclusively offer and distribute the GrandPad in the United States. Consumer Cellular has been enjoying steady growth in the recent years, and it is very likely for the company to reach $1 billion in revenue this 2018, co-founder John Marick said.