Not long ago, many parents wondered at what age they should give their child full access to the car keys. Nowadays, parents face a trickier question: At what age should a child own a smartphone, even a myFirst Fone?
The smartphone, after all, is the key to unfettered access to the internet and the many benefits and dangers that come with it. But unlike driving a car, which is legal at the age of 18 in Singapore, there is no legal guideline or indication for a parent to determine when a child may be ready for a smartphone. The topic is being increasingly debated as children get smartphones at an ever-younger age — parents may feel like it was just yesterday that their babies no longer needed their teether toys. Nowadays, children are getting their first smartphones around seven years of age (on average) where they start their formal primary schooling and are just getting acquainted with children’s books.
Smartphones undoubtedly bring benefits like fun storage solutions. With the devices, children gain access to powerful apps, including education tools for studying, chat apps for connecting with friends and the wealth of information on the web. But they also are one step closer to distracting games, sexting apps and social media apps where online bullies are on the prowl. Even older children are not immune.
Local Singapore brand, myFirst, saw the gap and opportunity to create and develop myFirst Fone series to cater specially to the children’s needs with myFirst Fone R1 as the first fun and innovative Music Smartwatch Phone, and the myFirst Fone S2 as a Smartwatch Phone with Care call functions, both exclusively designed for the Next-gen Kids.
myFirst Fone series is an all-in-one smartwatch phone equipped with a 2-megapixel inbuilt camera, clock, GPS, and fitness tracker! It is a one smart tech gadget every child should have to stay connected, safely! Packed with heavy functional features and yet light-weight on the price, myFirst Fone is something that will not only delight the young users but every parent too!
Useful safety features of the myFirst Fone series such as precise location tracking with advanced GPS, Indoor WiFi Tracking via Google System and LBS (Location Based Service), provide accurate and convenient information for parents to keep track of their children’s whereabouts. It comes with Geo-Fencing so parents can preset safety zones for their kids by highlighting geo-locations in the iOS or Android app. The watch phone also comes with an SOS alert that sends distress signals with an integrated SOS button. Parents will receive an emergency location notification alert with a live 30s recording of surrounding sounds if the child is in danger or lost.
More than just a watch, myFirst Fone functions exactly like a phone to help parents stay in touch with their children via voice or video call.
For parents who are concerned with smartphones being a distraction to the child can now rest assured that there is finally a smart gadget able to deliver all the good functions leaving the distractions aside. myFirst Fone series is cleverly installed with a Class Mode where the device can work like just a regular watch during school hours by having certain functions such as phone calling, texting locked, but the SOS button can still be triggered during this period. This can be customized by the parents via the myFirst Fone mobile application to ensure that the children can focus in class and the watchphone will not be a distraction to them! The app is compatible with iOS and Android mobile devices.
myFirst Fone R1 series comes in three fun colours to match the child’s personality from being sporty, classy to being adventurous! R1 is available in – Space Grey, Lavender Purple, Macaw Blue at a recommended retail price: S$229 each.
While the S2 is a square face watchphone that comes in three colours – Blue, Black, and Pink, with a recommended price of S$179 each!
Inclined by an incident in Vietnam when a child fell asleep on a school bus and was only found too late, myFirst came up with different subscription plans for the myFirst Fone, strengthening the importance of staying connected with each other anytime, anywhere.
Suitable for any users between the age of 4 – 12 years old, myFirst has different ongoing monthly subscription plans for Caller ID, unlimited data, voice, and video calls at an amazing affordable flat rate! Now, with myFirst Fone, children can stay in touch with each other, without the stranger danger on the Internet, as long as they are on each other’s contact list, which can be present by their parents!
To make the deal sweeter, each subscription plan comes with a FREE myFirst Fone with a lease to own!
- The R-Plan subscription plan is available at S$28/month for a year.
- The S-Plan subscription plan is available for S$25/month for a year.** For the first 1,000 subscribers, they will be able to enjoy S$5 off monthly for 12 months, using promo code STAYCONNECTED!
For purchase of the subscription plan and myFirst Fone device, please check out their website.
