We look at this thing, and frankly, the term "phone" just never crosses our minds. Handsets designed specifically with children in mind typically look nothing like traditional cellphones, but Omego's self-titled debut may just take the cake. Looking like a table coaster with an LCD display, the 83 gram device runs on T-Mobile MVNO Toucan Mobile in the UK, offering "educational games," an organizer, a 40-number phone book, an obligatory lack of numeric keypad (although Firefly might be looking to change all that), and the obvious full suite of parental control. It runs £15 a month (about $30) on an 18-month contract plus £5 per megabyte (ouch!) over the handset's GPRS modem. Then again, what are 8 year olds consuming data for?

[Via El Reg]

Update: PC Magazine's Sascha Segan has pointed out that this weird thing is a rebranded Enfora TicTalk from back in the day. No wonder it looks so old school!

In an announcement sure to make tweens scream and parents sigh, both AT&T and Verizon Wireless have seemingly simultaneously decided to stop featuring their respective kid-centric handsets. Folks interested in Verizon's Migo will now be shown LG's 3450L flip-phone instead, as the company claims that its texting abilities and Chaperone capability will lend itself to being an effective youth-oriented option. As for AT&T, its Firefly mobile will now be sold solely online, but there was no mention of what the carrier planned on offering when paranoid parents showed up looking for a highly controllable device in-store. Of course, both of these phones should remain available in other mass market channels for those still interested, but we're sure your nine-year old kid will be lobbying for something a bit more sophisticated in a few months anyway.

[Via PhoneScoop]

Imaginarium's telephony devices for children haven't typically looked like phones -- though we reckon that's by design -- and the trend continues with its latest, the Cam1. The rather beefy looking Cam1 is focused on video calling, giving parents an opportunity to get some visual confirmation that their children are safe and sound (though we're wondering what the toddler in the press shot here is doing far enough away from her parents to require a video call). Other features include 20MB of onboard memory, microSD expansion, and big, colorful buttons that we kinda want to press.

Softbank and Toshiba have teamed up to release another electronic tether GPS-enabled phone for children, the 812T. The pastel clamshell is visually distinctive, thanks to (what appears to be) a rather large ring for attaching the phone to clothing, backpacks, or keychains -- but the real draw here, of course, is the GPS receiver that parents can use to watch their little ones traverse the streets of Japan from the comfort of their softly-glowing computer monitor. Other features include a 1.3 megapixel cam, a QVGA internal display, microSD memory expansion, and Yahoo! Messenger support (this is Softbank, after all, purveyor of Yahoo!'s Japanese 'net service). We're also guessing those clear lenses on the phone's front cover some strobe lights for criminal-blindin' action when necessary. [Warning: PDF link]

[Via Akihabara News]

Sure, time is money, and nobody has time to wait around to make a phone call, but two parents in Lone Grove, Oklahoma are exemplifying the bounds of being impatient by filing larceny charges against a high school principal and superintendent. Based on an estranged rule that we seriously hope isn't widespread, students are not allowed to have any sort of "wireless telecommunications device" on their person during school hours, and when a cavalier student's mobile rang in the midst of class, it got snatched -- for five days. Based on the "school handbook," officials have the right to confiscate cellphones for a full business week if a student dares to bring one on campus, and reports explain that the superintendent has no inkling to return the device a moment too early. While we can understand how hopeless the poor child must feel without his connection to, well, everything, we're hoping the charges lead to fewer restrictions at Lone Grove High School (and beyond) for everyone's sake, right kids?

[Via Fark]

The Imaginarium Mo1, which seems destined for Spain, doesn't appear to sport any unique features that distance it from the young'un mobiles that've launched here in the US: limited keypad, comprehensive parental controls, kid friendly design. It also packs tracking functionality (though we're not sure how we feel about 6-year-olds -- part of the target demographic -- being allowed to wander off far enough for their parents to require such a feature), and in our humblest of opinions, it's a little neater looking than either of our domestic offerings. Look for it this December for a reasonable sounding €59 (about $75) -- if you're on the other side of the pond, that is.

[Via Mobilewhack]

It seemed pretty obvious that Disney's family-oriented Disney Mobile MVNO was in desperate need of a kidproof handset, having initially come to the table with only a pair of middling clamshells for the little 'uns. Enter the pod-shaped D100 -- now granted, we can't say with certainty that they'll be marketing this toward parents with young children when it launches, but c'mon, it's got Winnie the Pooh on its backside. The usual parental controls are present on the device, but more interestingly, the numeric keypad can be replaced with a simpler four-button design if numeric dialing isn't needed (try texting on that, kiddies).

[Via phoneArena]

Update: In speaking with Disney Mobile, it turns out this lil' pod won't be seeing duty here in the States -- it's destined for South America as a general consumer device.

If you're under the age of 12 -- or at least possess the mentality of a 12 year old, as some of us here at Engadget do -- you've gotta be bummed that Japan seems to get all the cool kiddie phones. Sure, we get the Firefly and Migo in these parts, but we don't have any, you know, frog-themed handsets. Gigabyte's new limited-issue Keroro phone celebrates Japan's Keroro Gunso cartoon, better known around here as "Sgt. Frog," and considering the target demographic, the brightly colored slider doesn't seem to be a half-bad device. Besides sporting a miniSD slot with a bundled 128MB card, camera, and what appears to be a mammoth speakerphone on its back, you get a boatload of Keroro-themed swag. No word on pricing, but only 2000 units are planned, so Sgt. Frog fans best get on the horn with their importers post-haste.

[Via Mobile Mentalism]

T-Mobile's launched a new service aimed at parents looking to placate their kid's incessant begging for a cellphone, but still maintain some control over how much they use it. kidConnect will give kids unlimited weekend minutes and a set number of "whenever minutes" (50 under the $19.99/month plan, with parents able to buy more) after which the service is cut off so they don't run up the bill -- kids can also trade in their whenever minutes for text message credits, although those'll dry up pretty quick at 4 text messages per minute. Regardless of how many minutes they use, however, they'll always be able to call their parents phone, or call 911. And unlike the myriad of other kids' cellphones, kidConnect will work with any T-Mobile phone, which we're guessing most kids would prefer anyway.

[Via Slashphone]