Not every parent wants to give their young child a smartphone. Sure they’re great for staying in contact or in an emergency situation, but they can also be a conduit to some of the more seedy stuff on the web. And let’s not forget that $600 device in the hands of an 11-year-old can also be an invitation to loss or damage, setting back the family wallet. Enter myFirst Fone.
myFirst Fone, a smartwatch for children debuting on Kickstarter hopes to solve some of those aforementioned issues. Firstly, the 3G myFirst Fone smartphone is worn like a watch, which should reduce the chance of it being lost or stolen. And while it’s shaped like a watch, it still has many of the same features you find on a regular smartphone, including a 1.3-megapixel camera and a pedometer.
Safety-wise, myFirst Fone lets parents plug in only certain numbers, so your child will be able to receive only phone calls or text messages from numbers that have been pre-approved by you. It also lets you keep track of what your child is up to and where he/she is. This can be done either through Wi-Fi or GPS-based tracking, or a feature which promises to alert you if your child leaves a geo-fenced area. Your child can additionally send an SOS message to the parents with a single button, while parents can listen in to what their kid is doing by accessing the device’s built-in microphone.
myFirst Fone is a great way of keeping in touch with your young child, and don’t think a traditional smartphone is the solution. myFirst Fone is currently available for pre-order on Kickstarter, with prices starting at $89. Shipping is set for May of this year.
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