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How Useful is the New FiLiP Phone?
To be honest, who in their right mind would want to buy a cell phone for a 5 year old? As a parent you’re faced with a dilemma: you want to know where your child is and what they’re doing but you don’t want to expose them to a cell phone just yet.
The mobile phone/tracker was created by Sten Kirkbak who, after losing his 3 year old son inside a mall and finding him a half an hour later, swore he would come up with a way to always keep track of them, so that he didn’t have to feel that panic ever again.
The new FiLiP phone costs around $200 and is a mobile phone and a tracking device. It’s made from a high-impact rubber and fits the small wrists of kids. Like any other thing designed with kids in mind, it is waterproof, dust resistant and pretty sturdy.
It only has two buttons, one red one for making calls and a smaller green one to go through the list of contacts. You operate the phone with the help of an app – you can add contacts to your child’s phone and you can keep track of where they are; you can send them a text message, but they can’t text you back (not that a 4 year old needs to send texts).
The phone uses Wi-Fi hotspots, GPS and cell towers to locate your little one and you can see what they’ve been up to for the last 48 hours. You can even create what is called a SafeZone and if your child enters one, then you get an alert that tell you just that. It’s also got a panic button and of course it also tells time.
The new FiLiP phone is a great idea that we think has a bit more to go before it can really hit it big. The really upsetting thing is that after you shell out big bucks to purchase it, you need to pay up to $10 a month to AT&T for the wireless service.
What are your thoughts on this device? Is it too much? Would you buy the new FiLiP phone for your child?
