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Vodafone launched first mobile phone for children ten years ago
Lisbon, 27 November 2007 Launched during the Christmas 1997 promotion by Vodafone (then called Telecel), the Vitamina K was the first mobile phone designed for children on sale in Portugal. Aimed at the 8-15 age group, it was designed to allow parents to control the calls made by their children since it was restricted to only six numbers, all pre-programmed by the parents.
Developing this approach, a year ago Vodafone, in partnership with Disney, launched the D100, another mobile phone for children with new functional and design characteristics.
This offer is based on the results of a study carried out in Portugal showing that the main reasons that parents give their child a mobile phone are to ensure that they are always reachable and to meet the need for personal safety and control. The results of the study show that 75% of parents think it is important to know that they are able to contact their children at any time when they are out of the house.
The Disney D100 is not just a mobile phone but rather a safe means of communication combining control, safety, protection and ease of use in a single handset.
Control, because it allows parents to restrict the list of numbers that their child can call. Safety, because it blocks calls or text messages to numbers that are not entered in the address book. Protection, because it automatically excludes any multimedia content and does not allow Internet surfing. Ease of use is achieved by offering children the facility to contact their parents by pressing a single button.
Added to these functions is the possibility of configuring the phone so that it does not ring at certain times, such as in lessons or at night.
The phone comes with an earpiece and two keypads with either 4 or 12 buttons, enabling it to adapt to the needs of different children.
Design is an important factor with children, so the phone comes in two versions – WITCH and Pirates of the Caribbean. It also features a screen with different coloured lights that can be personalised with Disney animations and logos. It offers 15 polyphonic ringtones and 5 SMS alerts on different themes.