Disney Mobile officially launches

Disney Mobile officialy launched. The Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MNVO) is offering service similar to the Verizon's Chaperone and is aimed at helping parents control their kids spending and keeping an eye on their communication and location

Disney Mobile, a Mobile Virtual Network Operator that will target parents who want to monitor closely how their children use their mobile phones, started selling phones and service via their website. In the coming months the company will start a phased retail roll-out which will include kiosks in shipping malls across the country.

At the core of Disney Mobile's family plans are the Family Center features, which allow parents to:
set spending allowances and track usage for voice minutes, text messaging, picture messaging and downloadable content, receiving alerts when allowances have been reached;
determine the hours of the day and days of the week when kids can use their phones;
program restricted and always-on phone numbers to manage with whom kids may communicate;
prioritize important family messages; and
locate kids' phones with GPS capabilities

The individual plans start from $39.99 and include 400 anytime minutes, up to $169.99 for 3,500 included minutes. Family plans consist of two lines and start from $59.99 for 450 minutes and go up to $249.99 for 4,500 minutes. Text messages for all plans are charged at $0.10 per message, while MMS are $.25.

Currently, only the Pantech DM-P100 is offered for $60 with two year service agreement. Until July 31 Disney Mobile is offering buy one get one free deal. LG DM-L200 should be the second phone to become available from the MNVO.

Pantech DM-P100 main features:

• quad-band GSM/GPRS
• VGA camera
• Speakerphone
• 3.43" x 1.92" x 0.94" and weight of 3.84oz
• Up to 3h talk time and 190h of stand-by

Pantech DM-P100

LG DM-L200 features:

•  128x160 pixels, 262k TFT color display; external 65k color OLED
•  1.3 mega pixel camera with video recording and flash
•  Bluetooth
• up to 4h talk time and 14 days of stand-by

LG DM-L200

Source: Disney