Kidtech: smartphone for kids with parental controls

A picture of the KidTech box. Photo: Supplied

A picture of the KidTech box. Photo: Supplied

Published Jan 19, 2018

Share

DURBAN - KidTech has a new offering in the form of a cellphone contract, coupled with a smartphone for school kids, in hopes to give parents peace of mind. 

KidTech combines the the technology of a smartphone and their "secret sauce" of parental controls. The smartphone will allow parents to rest easy with the knowledge that their kids are safe and protected. 

The standard smartphone phone is the  Huawei P8 Lite 2017 smartphone which comes with a cellphone case as well as KidTech stickers so the kids can decorate the case any which way they choose. 

Seef said that that the requirements for the phone are that it is an Android phone (which is necessary for the parental control apps), it has the functionality and the aesthetics that children are looking for and it well priced. 

The available parent controls include:

1. Blocking harmful and websites and apps.

2. Protecting children from cyber-bullying and sexually unsuitable behaviour.

3. When and how the phone is used. 

ALSO READ: 

Another feature lets parents track the whereabouts at any time, sending alerts when their kids can leave a designated area like their school. 

Tariffic is the cellphone's management company, whose executive team started KidTech. 

Tariffic CEO Anthony Seeff, said "The idea came from witnessing arguments about cell phones between kids who want cell phones and parents who are worried about their kids being exposed to all the negatives that cellphones can introduce".

He added that kids by the age of 13 will either have a cell phone will be putting pressure on their parents to get a cellphone. However parents know that if they give their child a regular phone the child can be exposed to cyber-bullying and other things. 

KidTech aims to solve this problem by offering kids safe cell phones that are suitable to their age, whilst providing peace of mind for their parents. 

KidTech has also picked a suite of apps that have pre-installed. One of the apps lets parents find out if their child is a victim of cyber-bullying by keeping an eye on all WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger messages and notifying parents the moment that certain bullying keywords is used.

Kid Tech co-founder Nic Botes said, "This cutting-edge software is pivotal in preventing bullying and sexually-inappropriate conversations". 

Tariffic and KidTech have collaborated to supply the perfect cellphone contract for kids. The KidTech contract has 1GB of data and free WhatsApp. The contract is also a top up one so parents can top up more airtime or data, preventing the risk of parents being shocked with a hue bill at the end of the month. 

Botes explained that, "the Huawei P8 Lite 2017 ticks all these boxes and offers children a cool-looking smartphone, equipped with a beautiful screen, a 12MP camera, a fingerprint scanner, and more.  Importantly, this phone is affordable enough for us to be able to offer the phone, plus a 1GB cellphone contract, plus all the parental controls for only R249 / month".

"Children want to be connected, this smartphone will allow them to connected in a way that will let parents rest easy too," said Botes. 

ALSO READ: 

- BUSINESS REPORT ONLINE

Related Topics: