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Safety Location Phone Beams Down

mTrack, the company behind KidsOK, has launched i-Kids, positioned as the UK's most accurate child location device using satellite technology...

mTrack, the company behind KidsOK, has launched i-Kids, the UK’s most accurate child location device using satellite technology...

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London – 14 December 2005 – With the festive season upon us and Christmas holidays fast approaching, it’s interesting to hear that nearly a third of children living in the UK miss out on playing outside because of concerns over their safety.*

In an effort to provide an answer to this problem, location expert mTrack launched i-Kids on 14 December, a low radiation mobile phone for pre-teens that enables parents to locate their children down to 20 metres at any time; more accurately than on any other device available in the UK and endorsed by children’s charities Kidscape.

The i-Kids mobile comes in a range of colours and is available to buy from £49.95 depending on contract** when you sign up to i-Kids online at www.i-kids.net/uk

The i-Kids handset and service is brought to the UK by mTrack, the company behind the successful KidsOK mobile phone location service, and emits only very low levels of radiation, far less than conventional mobiles designed for adults and far below EU safety recommendations.

Simplified but flexible design

The phone is also designed with limited call capabilities and four numbered buttons, of which three can be allocated to the phone by the parent together with a fifth ‘hunt group’ button and functionality that the child can use to get help at any time.

The i-Kids service enables parents to keep track of their child via the i-Kids phone, in three ways:

• Mobile Route allows parents to access a map online and on their mobile showing the tracked location of their child’s i-Kids phone which is located by satellites every 10 minutes (no extra charge). The system is capable of mapping and visualizing tracked mobile routes right across Europe zoom down from multi-country view to street level.

• Safety Zone Alert enables parents to be alerted via text message on their mobile if their child’s i-Kids phone travels outside a specified area which they set on an online map (50p per zone alert)

• Location Request lets parents locate their child at any time by sending a ‘Ping’ request from their mobile or online. Within 60 seconds they receive a map and text description of their child’s current or last known location provided by the i-Kids phone (50p per ‘Ping®’)

“The i-Kids phone uses the latest and most accurate GPS technology available in the UK today to give parents the piece of mind of being able to pinpoint the exact location of their child at any time, anywhere,” says Marcus Bicknell from mTrack. “Britain has the longest working hours in Europe and many parents still feel guilty about juggling work and childcare commitments."

"The i-Kids phone offers a useful tool to see where their children are at any time and gives the children more freedom to go out knowing that they can be located to within a very small area by mum or dad.”

Children can receive calls and text messages on the i-Kids handset which is packed with useful features. There are four numbered buttons on the handset which enable children to make calls to up to three different speed dial phone numbers pre-set by parents and a fifth ‘hunt group’ button that calls each of the preset numbers in turn until the child gets through to someone.

GPS functionality in action

The mobile also gives the child an option to call emergency services directly in the event of an emergency. The handset communicates with the Global Positioning System (GPS) network of satellites that orbit the earth to accurately pinpoint the handset and its user’s location.

The i-Kids mobile phone service conforms to the location based services Code of Practice established in 2004 by the Home Office, the mobile operators, the Police and children’s charities. The identity of parents applying to activate an i-Kids handset is rigorously checked, and the child has to approve the service before it switched on.

The i-Kids phone has been successfully launched earlier this year by SF ALert in the Netherlands with KPN Mobile and in Australia with Mobiles2Go and Vodafone. i-Kids will soon be introduced in other countries in Europe. The i-Kids service & phone were originally invented and developed by the SK Telecom, the largest wireless carrier in South Korea, and the technology has been supplied and commercialised to the European countries by SK Telecom to SF Alert starting from the Netherlands. The UK release of the i-Kids phone by mTrack builds on the success of the KidsOK permission-based mobile phone location service which enables parents to locate their kids by sending a text to KidsOK to find the location of the child’s phone. The KidsOK system works on any phone. For more information on KidsOK please visit www.kidsok.net

* How Families Spend Time, The First Annual Parenting Report 2005 from National Family and Parenting Institute.

** Parents should visit www.i-kids.net/uk to order an i-Kids SIM card for their i-Kids handset and to enable the i-Kids location service.

Health information

mTrack Services, Ltd is aware of the concern surrounding the use of mobile phones by pre-teens as discussed in the Stewart Report 2000. In line with recommendation 1.52 of the report, mTrack makes the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) value for the i-Kids phone readily accessible to consumers on the i-Kids website.

i-Kids SAR rating:
Minimum: 0.641 W/kg
Maximum: 1.187 W/kg (Dependent on the position the phone is held)
EU recommended SAR maximum limit: 2.0 W/kg

About i-Kids:
Parents can make a Location Request to locate their child’s i-Kids handset at any time by sending a texting ‘PING PETER’ (if their son is called Peter) from their own mobile. Within 60 seconds the parent will receive a text message with the i-Kids phone’s location. In addition to being able to locate their child using their own mobile, parents are able to find out their child’s whereabouts by simply logging on to www.i-kids.net/uk. Subscribers enter their ID name and a password to access the securely encrypted location information. Here they can make a one-off online location request or access the more detailed services; Mobile Route and Safety Zone Alert.

About mTrack:
KidsOK operated by mTrack Services Ltd. The company was founded in 2003 by Richard Jelbert and Peter Stent to take advantage of opportunities offered within the emerging location based services sector and the wider mobile communications marketplace. mTrack works closely with mobile operators, government authorities and charities to provide a range of secure, passive and permission based mobile location services including KidsOK and PingAlert. www.mtrackonline.co.uk/

About SF Alert:
SF Alert provides technically high-quality safety solutions using the GSM- and GPS technology. Using SF Alert’s state of the art solutions the customer can easily protect both people and properties. This contributes to a better and safer living environment. SF Alert focuses on a 23 Country- territory. Within three years from now (anno 2005) SF Alert will penetrate on these markets. SF Alert is owned for 20% by SK Telecom. SK Telecom, part of the SK Group, is a leading South Korean telecommunications services company and Korea’s largest wireless service provider with over 15 million subscribers.