The OwnFone looks like it might be great for your kids

While it might not be common a few years back, the sight of seeing kids walking around with tablets and phones of their own is certainly becoming quite normal. However if you’re a parent who is worried that your child might rack up quite a bill with their own phone, or if you want to be able to control who they are able to call, then perhaps the OwnFone is a gadget you might want to check out. Designed for use in the UK only, the OwnFone can hardly be called a smartphone, and to be honest even feature phones have more features than it, although its novel design was what caught our attention in the first place.

As you can see in the photo above, the OwnFone is a very simplistic phone and allows customers to customize how many numbers are allowed to be dialed on it. Customers can choose from 2, 4, 8 or 12 contacts which will be preprogrammed on the device before being shipped out to customers. Instead of sporting phone numbers, each phone number will be instead be represented by a label, such as “Mom”, “Dad”, “Police”, “Grandma” and etc. It’s available for £55 and if you’ve got kids that you’ve got to keep in contact with, or perhaps an elderly parent who might not be familiar with their way around a regular mobile phone, let alone a smart one, then perhaps the OwnFone might be worth checking out.

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Meet the OwnFone: a customizable mobile phone that epitomizes simplicity

Meet the OwnFone a customizable mobile phone that epitomizes simplicity

The OwnFone is neither smart nor world-friendly, and yet it’s managed to grab our attention just the same. Designed for use only in the UK, it represents a rather novel take on the mobile phone with its customizable nature and simplistic design. Before ordering, owners must select among two, four, eight or a dozen contacts, and it’s highly recommended to include emergency services among that bunch — there’s no option to dial actual numbers, as every contact is programmed and stored in the cloud.

In its current incarnation, contacts are represented by their names, but it will soon be possible to customize a phone with either photos or Braille. While owners can update a contact’s phone number with a simple call to customer support, it’s more cumbersome to replace a contact, as you’ll need to order a decal to affix over the former friend. Due to its limited functionality, the OwnFone is best positioned as a backup or secondary phone, although its simplicity makes it particularly well-suited for children and some elderly individuals. As another nice touch, one’s phone number is printed on the back of the OwnFone. You’ll find it available today for £55, and all those curious to discover the customization options can check out the various colors, patterns and photos on OwnFone’s website.

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Meet the OwnFone: a customizable mobile phone that epitomizes simplicity originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 11:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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