Business Line
Now, a limited-use mobile phone
Monday, 17 July , 2006, 08:01
Ahmedabad:
Afte r the no-frills airlines, here is an
inexpensive no-frills second cell phone,
which is being patented now, for less than Rs
700. BSNL officials have taken notice
and multinational companies and their Indian
counterparts are evincing interest for
its commercial production.
Mobile phones work mainly on two technologies, -
code division multiple access (CDMA),
which requires no SIM card - and GSM, in which
any SIM card can be used. The new
invention is an extension of the CDMA phone but,
if and when the user switches to
GSM, a SIM card can be integrated into the new
device, says its inventor. A user
having an existing cell phone on normal CDMA
technology can offer its extension to
others for limited use , says its
inventor, Pradyumna Vyas, Principal Designer at
the National Institute of Design (NID), who sees a huge potential for it.
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The device has no SMS or MMS facility , no games
or camera, not even display screen
and, of course, no SIM card! And its bill is
added to the existing mobile phone bill.
But, the user would have to network the device
with the existing phone through the
service provider only, as in the case of the
twin-phone facility provided against
a single bill payment by some providers who
merely change the second digit on the
10-digit number to identify the new phone.
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About the size of an ordinary mobile phone
battery, 80 mm x 35 mm x 15 mm, the new
device can be used only for up to six outgoing or
incoming calls on pre-determined
numbers. . The gadget would have six keys with
vibratory as well as audible ringtone
modes, so that even visually challenged people
can operate this instrument. . Even
when the user is abroad, he can stay in touch
without having to pay roaming charges
for unwelcome calls. He would only have to pay
roaming charges for calls on the pre-determined
numbers.
onfirming that commercial production was being
discussed, Vyas told Business Line
that he has already filed for the patent. . He,
however, declined to identify the
interested MNCs and Indian companies, saying the
talks were at a "preliminary stage."
"Even otherwise, cell-phone companies have found
that 80 per cent of people using
mobile phones actually use only 20 per cent of
the features of their gadget," said
Vyas, who took a year to develop the device. Why,
then, waste your money on a feature-rich
product anyway, he asked, adding, "A school kid
can dial only the parents or school.
An elderly person can use it to contact their children or the doctor."
The limited-use mobile phone would be useful not
only for children and the elderly
and the physically challenged but also for
defence establishments, transporters,
vehicle drivers, nurses, domestic help and
others. The device ensures that only urgently
required numbers can be called immediately by
pressing two buttons. Moreover, the
device is virtually theft-proof.
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