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New Mobile From Vodafone Simply Makes Calls
 By David Utter
Expert Author
Article Date: 2005-05-20
Period. No built-in camera. No streaming video. No games. Vodafone takes the cellphone industry back to the 20th century.
And that may be a good thing for certain users, who prefer low-tech to high-tech. Vodafone and French-manufacturer Sagem have developed two stripped-down phones, which will be marketed in Britain as "Vodafone Simply." A similar marketing effort started this week in Germany.
Vodafone seems to be acknowledging a reality among older customers. Those customers want a new phone, but don't want to spend hours with a manual trying to figure out why they have a 50 Cent ringtone playing on incoming calls.
The handsets have larger than usual buttons and screens, and the service will allow for voice calls or text messaging. In a Times Online report, an online survey of more than 1,200 people showed half of those 55 or older believed that technology advances have made life more complicated.
The phones may have a secondary market on the other end of the age spectrum. Parents who want to be able to provide children with a cellphone without incurring huge bills for downloadable content might find these phone models appropriate to their needs.
About the Author:
David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.
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