Vodafone wants simpler phones

In the middle of the technological avalanche, which throws on the market the smallest cell phones possible crammed with dozens of functions, Vodafone goes against the trend and offers a terminal for technophobes and for those users who get stuck in the complicated menus of the latest cell phones.

There are still many who use the phone only to make calls or to send SMSs and don't need digital camera, MP3 player, smartphone or 3G videoconference. For them, Vodafone teamed up with the French producer Sagem, and proposed two models of terminals that belong to the "Vodafone Simply" line.

The telephones have buttons that are 30% bigger than standard ones, a generous display and � that's about it. Although these models are aimed at the British market, Vodafone doesn't ignore the rest of the European market and last week, the company launched them in Germany.

The design for these models reminds more of a fixed phone than an ultra-sophisticated cell. Moreover, the phone constantly displays the owner's cell phone number, easing in this way the changing of contact data. When a text or voice message is received, a led incorporated in the phone starts to blink, and the icons displayed are replaced with written instructions. The keyboard and its functions can be blocked through a lateral button.