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New Disney Phone Service Tracks Kids Calls and Locations

  • NY Times, Wednesday, April 5, 2006 12 PM
Remember the old public service announcement, "It's 10 o'clock. Do you know where your kids are?" Soon it will be easy to answer that question with a new wireless phone service from the Walt Disney Co. that lets parents track their kids' whereabouts using global positioning system technology. The service will also let parents set limits on their children's cell phone use, allowing them to block calling during school hours and restrict what numbers kids can dial. Parents will also be able to set spending limits on their phone bills. The new service is called Disney Mobile and it is scheduled to be available in June, although it has yet to be priced. "This is very much about putting control in the hands of the parents," said Steve Wadsworth, president of the Walt Disney Internet Group. As part of the mobile service, parents can set up a monthly allowance of minutes, text messages or other services for each child to use. Once a monthly allowance is reached, both the parent and the child receive an alert on their Disney Mobile phones. The parent then can decide either to increase the allowance or restrict the phone's use.

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