If you remember running home after school to grab the family landline and call your best friend before dinner, a new device Reel aims to revive this experience for a new generation.
The kid-focused tech company announced Tuesday the launch of Pinwheel Home, a modern take on the classic home phone designed to keep kids connected without the distractions of a smartphone.
Pinwheel positions the phone as an introduction to phones for children ages 5 to 10 before they are ready to use a smartphone. The company already sells child-friendly smartphones and spear a smart watch last year.
Instead of texting or scrolling through social media, Pinwheel Home is designed just for voice calls. The company says the phone encourages more meaningful one-on-one conversations while giving kids the independence to call friends and family and practice basic phone skills without borrowing a parent’s device.
The launch comes as more parents look for ways to reduce their children’s screen time, amid growing concerns about the impact of technology on their development. Studies have linked excessive screen time to emotional, behavioral, and social challenges. More, recent research from the University of Georgia found that children who spend more time on social media tend to develop weaker vocabularies over time, including greater difficulty recognizing and pronouncing words.
Notably, although Pinwheel Home looks like a traditional landline, it works over Wi-Fi, eliminating the need for a phone jack. It comes in two models. The Spark starts at $68 and is available in white, black, blue and purple. The Classic costs $79 and includes a retro-style handset and customizable stickers, with pink, black and white color options.
For security, parents control the device through Pinwheel’s Caregiver Portal, where they can approve contacts, block unknown callers, spam and robocalls, and set calling schedules and time limits. Speed dialing and voicemail are also available.
The company notes that future updates will introduce three-way calling and allow Pinwheel Home to integrate with its watches and smartphones, allowing kids to use the same phone number across devices while limiting screen time at home.
Country like Australia, have restricted children’s access to social media, and the United Kingdom has announced plans to take similar measures.
The device also joins other screenless communications products aimed at children, competing with tin cana $100 Wi-Fi landline that lets parents manage approved contacts through a companion app.
Calls between Pinwheel Home devices are free through the company’s Pinwheel Circle service. Families who want to call standard phone numbers can choose plans starting at $6.99 per month for up to five approved contacts or $9.99 per month for unlimited calls. (For comparison, calls between Tin Can devices are also free, while its Friends and Family plan costs $9.99 per month.)
Home Reel is available now on the company’s website and is expected to launch on Amazon this fall.
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