I can’t see this having much effect on anyone but the manufacturers of the phones, but Verizon today announced that it has stopped selling the LG Migo, a phone made for kids. Meanwhile, Cingular also announced that it would no longer sell the Firefly phone in its retail stores.
The main feature of both of these devices is that they lack 10-digit keypads. Mom and dad can program in a handful of numbers that their kids are allowed to call and that’s that. Oh and they also allow parents to “chaperon” the children, which essentially means track their every move through GPS.
Cingular will continue to make the Firefly available online for free with a two year contract. Verizon is focusing on the LG 3450L flip phone, as it supports text messaging and regular phone functions, but also has Big Brother chaperoning.
Cingular and Verizon Wireless drop kid phones [RCR Wireless]