Baton Rouge-based Yellow Jacket is the maker of the first-ever stun gun smartphone case. Founders Seth Froom and Sean Simone are displaying the older iPhone 4/4S model at the International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week in Las Vegas. The company is also debuting their brand new iPhone 5/5S model which will be available to purchase in February.
Protection and practicality are the pillars of the company. Yellow Jacket provides a non-lethal amount of power to protect smartphone users against attackers. The case is also equipped with a separate battery that provides up to 24 hours of additional battery life.
At CES, Yellow Jacket announced the launch of their petition urging New York lawmakers to make stun guns legal through change.org. According to the company, smartphone thefts accounted for 45% of robberies in New York City in 2013. 14% of those robberies were iPhone thefts, known as “Apple picking.”
“We created the first Yellow Jacket case after our own experience with robbery,” said CEO Simone. “With the emergence of ‘Apple picking’ in the New York area we felt that it was time for us to take a stand on behalf of the state’s constituents. We hope by launching this Change.org petition, a law will go into effect allowing the use of stun guns in the state for residents to further protect themselves.”
“We are committed to branding the Yellow Jacket case as a successful means of protection,” said Simone.
Cases for the Samsung Galaxy S4 and other devices are in the works for summer 2014.
Follow Yellow Jacket at CES using hashtag #STUNCES14 and those in Vegas can catch them in the North Hall of the LVCC, iLounge Pavilion, Booth #6832.