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The Wherifone's parental controls are on a par with those of other kid-friendly phones. Parents can set the five keypad buttons to dial whichever phone numbers they choose. Fortunately, all input is via Wherify's Web site, which, provided you have full-time Internet access, makes it easy and hassle-free. Parents can also use the site to send their kids a text message, but their offspring cannot send a message in return. The Wherifone can, however, receive calls from numbers not recorded in the online book. While Wherify says the unlisted callers will have to go through an 800 number to place a call, we were able to place a call directly from a strange number. Also, keep in mind the Wherifone doesn't have caller ID.
Kids do get a few controls they can manipulate. They can select from ringing or vibrate mode, choose one of seven ring tones, adjust the display contrast and backlight time, change the volume for calls and ring tones, activate a keypad lock, and set the date and time.
The Wherifone comes with full GPS capability to locate your child via Wherify's Web site. After logging on, you're presented with a choice of locating the phone just once or locating it a set number of times every few minutes with the Breadcrumb function. After a location is established--it's worth noting that the phone must be on for you to do so--you get a map showing the phone's purported location (you can see an aerial photos as well). We'd rate the location system as only marginally effective. Out of five tries, two instances put us smack in the middle of San Francisco Bay, a good two miles from our downtown offices. We can't imagine any parent would enjoy imagining their child afloat in the water. Two other attempts put us a couple of blocks away, which was better, while the remaining try had us just outside the front door. All locations took a minute or so to complete.
We tested the triband (GSM 850/1800/1900) Wherify Wherifone in San Francisco using Cingular's service. Currently Wherifone partners with PetroCom, a wireless carrier in the Gulf Coast states to provide service. If you're outside of that area, you'll operate on Cingular's roaming network. Call quality was better than we expected. The volume in particular was quite loud, but the audio in general was clear and static-free. Voices did take on a mechanical quality, and there was a noticeable hiss at higher levels. On their end, callers could hear us plainly, but it was very clear to them we were using a cell phone as well. Audio quality in windy conditions diminished a bit, but for what it is, the Wherifone had effective call quality on the whole.
The Wherifone has a rated battery life of five hours talk time and four days standby time. In our tests, we got about four hours of talk battery life. While's that's not quite the promised time, it's still respectable for such a small phone. Yet we noticed that the Wherifone displayed a low-power notice on the screen when the battery meter still looked to be half full. According to FCC radiation tests, the Wherifone has a digital SAR rating of 0.94 watts per kilogram.
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Where to buy
Wherifone G560 - silver (Wherify Wireless):
$79.99
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Amazon.com Marketplace
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$79.99 | Yes |
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