A low-tech cellphone may be the solution for high-stress problems, such as lost children, or communicating with security guards.
This is according to the marketing agent for a phone that Tellumat is about to begin manufacturing.
The Malberry does not have a camera, display or keypad. There are only two buttons, one for dialling out and the other for volume control. It has several LED lights and a small speaker/microphone. The instruction manual is a single A4 page.
The Malberry was the idea of independent design engineer Andre van der Sandt, who used to work for electronics manufacturer Tellumat.
Bronwyn Johnson, founder of cellular marketing company, Mymobilit, is bringing the cellphone to the market.
"We often joke that while a BlackBerry does everything, the Malberry does very little," Johnson says.
Location device
Van der Sandt says he was inspired to design the Malberry after the disappearance of a child from the school his children attend. Although the child was found, the incident caused panic among parents and teachers.
"It took me four hours to design and four years to bring to market," he says.
A Malberry phone requires a normal SIM card. An SMS with "000 new pin", is then sent to it from a control phone, which could be one owned by a parent. The Malberry sends a return SMS acknowledging receipt. The control phone's number is placed first on the authorised list of a total of four numbers that may be called from the Malberry.
The control phone may interrogate the Malberry at any time. This includes monitoring of what numbers call the Malberry, setting limits on outgoing call duration, recharging the SIM, and changing the authorised numbers. The phone also works as a location device and the Malberry sends an SMS to the control phone if its battery is going flat.
"Schools seem to love the phone as it does not allow children to be distracted with the many features found on other phones," says Johnson. "My son now has two phones: the Malberry that he takes to school and his other phone for use after school."
Certified for use
Johnson originally went overseas to find a cellular product catering for children, but found they were unsuitable or too expensive.
"The bizarre thing is that the product I was looking for was already right here at home."
She says the Malberry has been certified for use by cellular networks Vodacom and MTN. The SA Bureau of Standards and the telecommunications regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of SA, have approved it.
"The network operators, however, don't seem too keen to distribute it through their stores, because they say their sales people have been so indoctrinated on selling phones on the strength of their features that the Malberry will be overlooked."
Van der Sandt says other possible Malberry users include security guards, who are often in need of cheap and reliable communications with their head office, and elderly people who need to keep in touch.
Features that may be added to the Malberry include push-to-talk capability and GPS location, he notes.
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