Cell Phones for Kids

Are mobile phones for young ones inappropriate or potentially useful? Consider the options -- and you be the judge.

When I was a kid, I always wanted to play with the gadgets that grownups had--telephones, walkie-talkies, typewriters, vacuum cleaners, you name it. For each of these devices, there was always a plastic, nonworking version for kids.

Things are a little different in the cell phone world. Phone makers and toy companies are making kid-friendly phones that function like the real thing--or close to it.

The phones are aimed at kids between 8 and 12 years old (aka "tweens"), and they give parents control over a handset's incoming and outgoing calls.

Parent-Controlled Phones

TicTalk

Enfora's $99 TicTalk lets parents authorize certain numbers to call in and dial out; parents can also control how and when the phone is used.

TicTalk looks and functions more like a walkie-talkie than a standard cell phone. It lacks a keypad and is equipped with a monochrome LCD screen showing caller ID, the time, and remaining battery life. To place a call, kids navigate an on-screen menu to choose from a list of authorized phone numbers. A scrolling button on the right side of the handset controls navigation. During a call, kids can hold the device to their ear, use the speaker phone, or plug in an earbud.

Parents must set up an account for the phone on Enfora's Webs site. There, they can program up to 23 numbers for family and friends (including an emergency number that can be programmed to dial 911 or any other number). To get service on the unit, parents must buy a prepaid Enfora SIM card. Costs start at $25 for 100 minutes, and the card expires 90 days after purchase. Activation is free. Parents can set a limit on the number of minutes their child can use in a given time period. TicTalk works on a GSM network, though no carrier has been announced yet. The handset runs on a rechargeable lithium-ion battery and comes with an AC charger.

To make TicTalk more appealing to kids, the device comes preloaded with five educational games from LeapFrog: Fact Attack, Hangman, Math Defender, Monkey Spelling, and Monkey Math. Kids can also record and play back music or voice memos. The record function lets kids create ring tones as well.

The Firefly

Although TicTalk is the latest product in this category of cell phones, it isn't the first. Firefly Mobile announced a kid-friendly handset in March and began shipping the product shortly after. Like TicTalk, Firefly is very compact and lacks a number pad; instead, it has a screen and a few control buttons. For details on Firefly, read Senior Editor Yardena Arar's "A Cell Phone for Kids."

While you're at it, you should also check out her blog entry about Wherify's Wherifone GPS Locator Phone, a GPS-enabled handset that lets users call preassigned numbers, as well as allows parents to track their kids' whereabouts.

Wherifone GPS Locator Phone

It seems that conventional mobile handset manufacturers want a piece of the phones-for-kids action, too. Rumors of an LG Electronics-branded handset that looks very similar to Firefly's phone are circulating at various blog sites, including Engadget, MobileBurn, Phone Scoop, and SlashPhone. Phone Scoop says the handset "is tentatively called the VX-1000. It is a small CDMA device with a simplified interface consisting of a monochrome display, talk/end keys, side volume keys, a 911 key, and four speed-dial keys that can be programmed by parents." Phone Scoop also mentions that the "draft manual refers to Verizon Wireless multiple times." Neither LG Electronics nor Verizon would comment on these reports.

Glorified Walkie-Talkie

Toy maker Hasbro has a different concept in mind. This fall, the company's Tiger Electronics arm will offer ChatNow, two-way radios that let kids stay in touch by "calling" or text-messaging friends who are within a two-mile radius. Parents don't have to pay for a phone plan because ChatNow doesn't use a cellular network. They simply recharge the walkie-talkie handsets so their kids can continue to use them.

Here's the irony: Unlike TicTalk and Firefly, which look like walkie-talkies but function as cell phones, ChatNow handsets look like a slider- or clamshell-style phone, complete with a standard phone keypad, a black-and-white screen, and even a built-in camera--but they function as walkie-talkies. Each ChatNow handset has a ten-digit "Buddy Number"; once you dial a friend's number, there's even a push-to-talk button you must press to carry on a conversation, à la walkie-talkie.