Location, location, location is no longer a phrase pertinent only to real estate.

A new device invented by a Hong Kong company can help worried children locate an elderly parent to within about 100 metres.

Launched last month by the Location Company, the pocket-sized FreeWalker is a little like a mobile telephone but connected to its own 24-hour call center.

Pinpoint chief operating officer Peter Schindler said the tool was a "mobile communications and safety device especially for the elderly".

"It allows the elderly to lead a richer, fuller life and offers benefits to the user's family or carer," he said. "They have some peace of mind that when their relative or loved one does go out, there is added safety and their ability to communicate."

Pressing a button once connects the user to a call center. Its sensitive microphone allows the caller to speak with the device against their chest, not pressed to their ear.

The center has on file the user's medical records and personal history, such as recurring illnesses or tendency to get lost, which can be passed on to emergency service when required.

It also stores phone numbers of the user's family and can transfer the user's call as needed.

"Sometimes the elderly call, they don't panic, they just want to talk to somebody, and that's something that this service provides as well," Schindler said.

How long are the two call center operators allowed to chat to them? "To be honest, we haven't yet set a policy. We want to do that in response to the needs. If we find people are going to talk an hour at a time, it may become uneconomical, but for now we're providing the best service we can."

The user's child or other concerned party can also phone the call center which can page the device, tracking it to within 100 metres in urban areas and several hundred in rural ones.

From late this month, this option will also be available on a website, displaying the user's position on a street directory.

The entire service was Cantonese only, Schindler said, as the device was targeted at the local population.

FreeWalker retails for HK$1,980 plus HK$188 a month service fee for the first 12 months and HK$88 a month thereafter.