Twig Com Ltd. (formerly Benefon) is a mobile telecommunications company founded in 2011 and headquartered in Salo, Finland. The company develops and manufactures personal safety and GPS tracking products and software for worker protection, telecare, and asset tracking applications. The operation was originally started in 1988 as mobile phone manufacturer Benefon who began research on GPS safety phones in 1995 and launched the first commercial GPS/GSM safety phone, the Benefon Track, in 2000. Twig Com Ltd acquired Benefon's Twig business from GeoSentric OYJ through a purchase agreement signed in January 2011.
Sale and management buyout
In 2007, GeoSolutions acquired Benefon, later changing its name to GeoSentric, OYJ. In December 2011, GeoSentric divested the Twig mobile handset business inherited from Benefon. Twig's management team reportedly acquired ownership for the price of one Euro. Twig Com Ltd. "assumed all the liabilities and obligations of the former Benefon's handset business with regards to the transferring business, including its employees and assets".
Products
thumb|Benefon Esc!
thumb|Benefon iO, digital GSM 900 cellular telephone.
In 1996 Benefon introduced the Alfa, Beta and Delta NMT-900 phones to the consumer market. However, by this stage, its former partner Nokia was already bringing to market GSM handsets such as the Nokia 1610. Benefon's first GSM phone was the 1997 Benefon Gamma, and the company continued to release new GSM handsets.
The Benefon ESC!, released in 1999, was introduced and was one of the first cellular devices with a built in GPS.
The Benefon Forte, operated on the NMT-450 standard and remained on the market for eleven years, until 2000. Engineered for tough operating conditions and equipped with a powerful antenna and transmitter, the phone found a niche operating on the edges of networks in industries such as shipping, since higher-frequency GSM coverage does not extend out to the sea.
Other mobile phone products included the Benefon Class that enabled cordless handset use, and the Benefon Smart, available in different colour options.
In 2000 Benefon released a Dual SIM phone Benefon Twin and Benefon Twin+. According to the company, it was the first dual-band GSM phone with two SIM-card slots. Benefon licensed the use of Microsoft Mobile Explorer 2.0 in 1999 to support both HTML and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP).
In response to the European Union's MORE-project (Mobile Rescue Phone), Benefon changed its focus to GSM+GPS mobile telematics equipment. The company launched what it later called "the first mobile phone and a GPS navigator integrated in one product", the Benefon Esc!, in late 1999, followed by the Benefon Track in 2000. The Esc! was splashproof and featured a large, greyscale LCD. Esc! allowed for users to load maps onto the phone, to trace their position and movement, and to call or send their coordinates via SMS to a list of set numbers by setting an "Emergency Key". It also featured a "Friend Find" service, whereby users with Esc! handsets could track each other's locations directly on their handset display. In some markets this feature was implemented online.
Twig Com products include personal safety and GPS tracking devices and software for worker protection, telecare, and asset tracking applications.