WEBVTT - KidsConnect is a GPS tracker phone for kids

0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.640
<v Speaker 1>I'm Richdimiro and this is Rich on Tech Daily. So

0:00:03.680 --> 0:00:05.640
<v Speaker 1>I had a cool device come my way called the

0:00:05.760 --> 0:00:09.280
<v Speaker 1>Kids Connect Phone. This is an interesting little gadget for

0:00:09.360 --> 0:00:11.319
<v Speaker 1>parents who want to keep in touch with their kids

0:00:11.400 --> 0:00:14.040
<v Speaker 1>and also keep track of them on a map. So

0:00:14.080 --> 0:00:17.000
<v Speaker 1>it's a very simple cell phone. It only has a

0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:19.840
<v Speaker 1>touch screen and then four buttons on it. In fact,

0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:22.159
<v Speaker 1>there's not even an easy way for a kid to

0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:24.800
<v Speaker 1>figure out how to turn this device on or off.

0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:28.040
<v Speaker 1>So the touch screen can store up to fifteen phone numbers.

0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:30.880
<v Speaker 1>You pre program those in. And the thing about this

0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:33.599
<v Speaker 1>phone is that it can only make or receive calls

0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:37.040
<v Speaker 1>and texts from numbers that you preapprove, so you have

0:00:37.080 --> 0:00:39.120
<v Speaker 1>to add them to the address book, and then and

0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:42.279
<v Speaker 1>only then can the phone get calls from them, make

0:00:42.360 --> 0:00:44.760
<v Speaker 1>calls to them, or of course the same thing with

0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:48.080
<v Speaker 1>text messages. So that's kind of cool. So first and foremost,

0:00:48.159 --> 0:00:50.320
<v Speaker 1>it's a GPS tracking device, so you can always see

0:00:50.320 --> 0:00:52.839
<v Speaker 1>where your kid is on a map, and then you

0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.160
<v Speaker 1>have a location history so you can see where your

0:00:55.240 --> 0:00:58.840
<v Speaker 1>kid has been on a map. There's a feature called SOS.

0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.080
<v Speaker 1>So this is that fourth button I was telling you about.

0:01:02.120 --> 0:01:04.240
<v Speaker 1>So if you press and hold that button, it will

0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.039
<v Speaker 1>get in touch with up to three people that you determine.

0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:09.920
<v Speaker 1>It will also send a text message to them with

0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:13.120
<v Speaker 1>the location of the phone. Then there's a geo fencing

0:01:13.200 --> 0:01:16.280
<v Speaker 1>feature which lets you set an area around their school

0:01:16.400 --> 0:01:18.840
<v Speaker 1>or wherever you want the kid to be, and if

0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.120
<v Speaker 1>they enter or leave that area, you will get an

0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:23.840
<v Speaker 1>alert that says, hey, the kid entered or left that

0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:27.560
<v Speaker 1>alert that area. And finally, this one's really interesting. It's

0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:30.399
<v Speaker 1>called voice monitoring. So this allows you to send a

0:01:30.520 --> 0:01:33.880
<v Speaker 1>text message to the child's device and then the device

0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:37.200
<v Speaker 1>will secretly call you back, so it doesn't light up,

0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.440
<v Speaker 1>it doesn't ring or do anything fancy to let you

0:01:39.480 --> 0:01:41.720
<v Speaker 1>know that you're listening in on your child, so you

0:01:41.720 --> 0:01:44.880
<v Speaker 1>can pick up your phone and hear what's happening around

0:01:44.920 --> 0:01:47.720
<v Speaker 1>your child. So the Kids Connect phone again as it's called,

0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:49.760
<v Speaker 1>is one hundred and thirty dollars. You do have to

0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.400
<v Speaker 1>pay a monthly fee of thirteen dollars a month minimum

0:01:53.440 --> 0:01:56.600
<v Speaker 1>for their service. You cannot add this as a separate

0:01:56.720 --> 0:02:01.000
<v Speaker 1>line to your current phone plan with say Verizon, their

0:02:01.040 --> 0:02:03.720
<v Speaker 1>T Mobile, or AT and T, although the service for

0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:07.000
<v Speaker 1>the Kids Connect phone is provided by T Mobile. Now

0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:10.160
<v Speaker 1>the software on the back end not so pretty. You know,

0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:13.280
<v Speaker 1>this is an independent company. It's definitely not up to

0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.320
<v Speaker 1>the standards that we're used to of say Facebook and

0:02:16.600 --> 0:02:19.720
<v Speaker 1>Instagram and how slick all their apps look. So I

0:02:19.800 --> 0:02:21.520
<v Speaker 1>found it to be a little bit wonky on the

0:02:21.560 --> 0:02:23.600
<v Speaker 1>back end to try to figure out how to do things,

0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.280
<v Speaker 1>and it just doesn't have that like slick look to it.

0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:29.679
<v Speaker 1>But I think the company's onto something. Parents definitely want

0:02:29.720 --> 0:02:33.240
<v Speaker 1>a device that's easy for their kids to use. This

0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.440
<v Speaker 1>can be for kids ages four and up, and also

0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:38.520
<v Speaker 1>just something that would have the battery last a really

0:02:38.600 --> 0:02:41.080
<v Speaker 1>long time. This has like maybe two days of battery life,

0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.480
<v Speaker 1>three if you really stretch it. But we need something

0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:45.320
<v Speaker 1>that lasts like a week, so you can put it

0:02:45.320 --> 0:02:47.799
<v Speaker 1>in your kids backpack for the week, forget about it,

0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:49.560
<v Speaker 1>and be able to get in touch with them at

0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:52.160
<v Speaker 1>the same time. So I'm glad that kids Connect is

0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:54.760
<v Speaker 1>working on this. I think this is a good start.

0:02:55.120 --> 0:02:56.800
<v Speaker 1>I think that if a company like at and T

0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:59.960
<v Speaker 1>or te Mobile, or if Verizon eventually sold these phone

0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:02.880
<v Speaker 1>in their store and you can add it to your plan,

0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:05.639
<v Speaker 1>that would be really nice as well. So if you

0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:07.120
<v Speaker 1>want to see the video I did on the kid's

0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.320
<v Speaker 1>connect phone. You can see it on my Facebook page.

0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:12.320
<v Speaker 1>Just go to facebook dot com slash Rich on tech.

0:03:12.800 --> 0:03:14.720
<v Speaker 1>A lot of people kind of mixed on this thing.

0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:16.399
<v Speaker 1>Some of them are saying, you know what, just get

0:03:16.400 --> 0:03:18.639
<v Speaker 1>your kid a real phone, or you know, maybe you

0:03:18.639 --> 0:03:20.560
<v Speaker 1>don't need a phone for your kid at all. This

0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:23.280
<v Speaker 1>is all too much, so you can voice in with

0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:26.280
<v Speaker 1>your opinion on my Facebook page. Thanks so much for listening.

0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.120
<v Speaker 1>I'm Rich Demiro. I'll talk to you next time.