Firefly is a cellphone aimed at parents to give to their children aged 4-12 years. This phone is designed to give parents peace of mind and children assurance that they can stay in touch with the people that matter most (without having to remember any numbers). There are nine buttons:
- A "Begin Call" button (visualized by a green phone)
- An "End Call" button (visualized by a red phone)
- An "Address book" button (visualized by a blue open book)
- A "Call Mom" button (visualized by a blue woman-in-dress icon)
- A "Call Dad" button (visualized by a blue man icon)
- An emergency 9-1-1 button (visualized by small button with cross) (right side button)
- Two buttons to control the volume (visualized by two arrows) (left side button)
- An animation button which will display the animation set in the menu (left side button between the volume buttons)
The address book button has up to 20 phone numbers in it. These are to be programmed in by the guardian/parent, who knows a PIN which is intended to keep the child from changing the numbers. In this way, parents control who their kids are calling. The phone also offers a call screening option which, when activated only allows the numbers that are in the phones memory to call that phone. The standard features are: Up to 8.5 days standby time and up to 6hrs talk time There is no texting or downloading capability which also allows parents to manage phone costs.
Firefly cellphones are either blue transparent plastic and can be opened by gently pressing up on the transparent knob on the top of the back side. "Shells" are also available on the website and come in a variety of colors. They can be carried using a belt clip or in a universal phone holder, or with no holder at all. The screen is a small LCD display, similar to the one used in modern calculators (black and light green).
The various menus and sub-menus have the signal strength and battery charge indicators. The menus are used in a similar fashion to setting a watch. Entering DTMF (Tones) can be done during the call by pressing the green key. Entering letters and numbers is accomplished by selecting each character and then confirming it, which moves the cursor to the next blank space - this can also be done easily via the website. The handset also contains animations, different colours and internal ringtones to entertain the child. It is a practical and basic GSM phone.
Criticism
The Firefly has garnered criticism for several issues since its release. Some parents have complained about overly cute designs that do not "grow" with the child, although Firefly Mobile now offers several new face plates with a "cool" look. Many have also pointed to the "Mom" and "Dad" buttons, which are reminiscent of bathroom signs, and depict "Mom" in a ball gown. Firefly offers no alternative button overlays to reflect families that are not nuclear, such as in a mother and grandmother household, a single-parent household, or lesbian/gay household.
External links
- Firefly Mobile: The Mobile Phone for Mobile Kids
- [[Now also available in Ireland at *Firefly Ireland]]
- [[Now also available in Turkey at *Firefly Turkey]]
