Hop-On offers GSM phone with GPS

We’ll be honest: We’ve never heard of Hop-On phones before. So our initial reaction to reading a press release regarding the availability of a new phone of theirs caught our interest. Apparently, they once made the world’s first disposable cell phone. Sounds like it would work well for people traveling to the U.S.. Now they’re offering a GSM 1883 model, which comes with GPS. Their pitch is that they are cost-effective. We’ll see about that. Now, we’re not saying this phone is poor. It’s a little short on features beyond GPS, only featuring a full-color screen and a two megapixel camera. No Bluetooth, no multimedia player.

Hop-on has recently begun focusing on future patents and technologies as well as the ability to provide effective tracking devices, such as the GPS technology available on the 1883 model GSM phone. The 1883 model’s GPS tracking device is a great tool for both children and elderly adults. If a child is lost, a parent can send an SMS message to ping the phone, and instantly be able to locate their child. The same technology can be used to monitor the locations of teenage children, to ensure their safety as they explore newfound freedoms. The 1883’s GPS technology is also helpful for elderly adults, who may experience slip and fall accidents and need assistance at their exact location as pinpointed by the GPS.

We’ll once again voice our opinion that we’re not completely on board with parents being able to track their kids via GPS. Yes, it can be a life saver in some cases. In others, though, it amounts to unmitigated spying. Just remember, parents who want to spy on their kids: There was no GPS when you were a kid. Your parents couldn’t track you like that, and you turned out fine, right? If you answered no to that, well…we’re not going to say it, but you can tell what we’re implying. All we’ve heard about price is that it’s “a fraction.” A fraction of what? Of the cost of comparable phones. But which phones are comparable? We love these circular statements that leave us with no real answers. We’ve scoured the Internets, but have found no set price. We did find information on another Hop-On offering, their MP3 playing phone. It ran around $300. If that’s around the price of the 1883, well, it’s not that cost-effective, now is it? [Businesswire]]]>