Mobile Tech

Kolibree Promotes Smart Connected Toothbrush at MWC

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

The connected world keeps expanding. I joke with ADM editor Rich Harris that one day we’ll have chips in our toilet paper. And with the Internet of Things, the push to do so is probably not that far away.

This January Kolibree announced its connected electric toothbrush at CES and they have been among the mobile tech companies at the Mobile World Congress that have been pushing the boundaries of connected mobile devices beyond smartphones, glasses and other wearable tech.

At first I was a little incredulous that we needed a connected toothbrush. Brushing your teeth is a pretty simple process, other than the gee whiz factor, why bother? Usually new products are introduced to solve a problem. Kolibree actually understands there has to be a value proposition for their product and they address it on their website.

Kolibree Value Proposition

Many people don’t realize that poor dental care can also impact the overall care of their

health. While Kolibree doesn’t proclaim to solve periodontal disease or suggest it can keep cavities or gingivitis at bay, the better you take care of your teeth, the more likely you can and will avoid serious problems. Before Kolibree, there hasn’t been an easy and quick way to monitor whether you’re doing an A+ job or a C- one when you brush, so how can you improve a habit without any data? Kolibree solves that problem, making it easy and fun.

You simply download the free mobile app, connect via Bluetooth and every brushing is recorded. The data about how you brushed automatically synchronizes to your smartphone telling you whether you brushed long enough and reached the hard-to-reach but important parts of your teeth and gums.

With the Kolibree connected toothbrush and mobile app, you can take control of your health and teeth with easy-to-understand monitoring and scoring. You can easily share your stats with your dentist and family or choose to keep it private.

Designed for families, the app works with several toothbrushes so the entire family can participate. Kolibree rewards your progress and cheers you on when you are improving, allocating points to kids to encourage them to improve their brushing habits.

Kolibree’s smart and connected toothbrush transforms an otherwise boring experience in real-time and offers game-play to keep you motivated. The brushing data will be available via an API to let 3rd party game designers develop new apps and enhance brushing time.

Ok, you pay more attention to brushing and your health is better. You could accomplish the same thing with a timer that makes sure you brush your teeth the proper amount of time.

However in my opinion the real beauty of what they are offering is not in the tech, but in the true value proposition for developers and advertisers.

All parents struggle with kids brushing their teeth. And Kolibree can help solve that problem. Parents spend a ton of money on their children, so buying a smart toothbrush for family members is not a reach.

Now from a app development industry standpoint, Kolibree is incorporating game play into the mundane tooth brushing experience. That’s brilliant. Twice a day (hopefully) kids and (and parents – hey Mom!) play a game as part of the tooth brushing experience. And what apps generate the highest revenue? Games.

Advertisers can reach a prime market. Developers connect directly with parents when offering apps to kids so the appropriate legal requirements are easy to administer. Third party developers can create games for the product. Brilliant.

Of course the success of the new company will depend on how well it can market the product and how many units are actually sold in the marketplace.

In another article here we pose this question: Is the tech industry in the process of Jumping the Shark” with smart connected tech? For Kolibree, I don’t think so.

To read more about the new product, visit the link below.

Read more: http://www.kolibree.com/