Firefly Mobile Redesigns Kids' Cell Phones

'Tweens want cell phones, and sometimes their parents want them to have phones for safety and family communication reasons. But here's the thing parents and phone carriers are realizing: A phone that looks like a baby-kid phone and nothing like the ones older siblings carry will just get stuffed in the bottom of a backpack and forgotten.

Companies like kajeet and Disney have figured this out, offering a line of 'tween-approved phones with plenty of features and tools for managing usage. Now Firefly Mobile, which came out with one of the first phones for 'tweens—a squat-body phone with five buttons to program parents' and emergency numbers—has redesigned its first phone and will launch a new one to appeal to 'tweens' decidedly specific tastes on Oct. 10.

The new phone is the flyPhone ($125), and besides the ability to make calls on pay-as-you-go plans that cost about 10 cents a minute, it will have an MP3 player, a video player, camera, mobile games and, yes, texting. Kids will be able to customize ringtones, wallpapers, photos, and slideshows. The phone, aimed at the ages-8-to-12 set, comes with flyKicks software that allows kids to tinker and create their own ringtones, wallpapers, and add effects to photos and slideshows to share with friends.

The original Firefly phone has been recast into the glowPhone ($50). It still has a limited key pad, with "mom" and "dad" speed dialing buttons, and an emergency 911 key, though it can be programmed to hold up to 50 phone numbers. Designed for kids ages 5 to 8, the glowPhone also come with pre-loaded games, ringtones, wallpapers, and Firefly says it is easier to program and navigate.

They will be sold online on Firefly's web site, as well as by major retailers, including Target, Toys R Us, Kmart, and BarnesandNoble.com.

More details to come when I am able to get my hands (and my tween's) on both new Firefly phones.

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