It's 999 in the UK

Roland Rat

112 is an international emergency number.

What about 800Mhz? :(

Bani-Banan

@zincrox:

I'm pretty sure they may change it for regions maybe 112 as it is the international emergency number.

Yeebles

@twoeightnine:
Payphones are a bad idea. They put you on a specific location at a specific time. Often in plain sight of a lot of people / cameras. If you buy this phone you can buy it in Manchester, use it in London, and drive back to your home in York. stealing / borrowing is also a bad idea. Since if you steal a phone, you draw more attention to yourself, and if you borrow the guy who you borrowed from knows who you are.

imho. those phones are ideal for criminals and too expansive for anyone else.

Redwraithvienna

I just had to buy a replacement cellphone for one of our employees. $20 paid in cash at Target for a Motorola cellphone with a color screen, internet, text messaging and it came with $10 worth of airtime.

What exactly is the market for this phone when you can an immensely better one for the same price?

jmckee

I bet the US gov't is going to require a background check and 7-day waiting period to buy one of these phones if they're ever released here.

TuxRug

I'm pretty sure a criminal can use a pay phone. Or borrow someone's phone. Or steal someone's phone.

twoeightnine

I have to call 911! can I borrow 13 euros!

Set to evil

the terrorists will love em... ok kinda joking... but honestly ... doesnt it make crimes / tracing criminals a lot harder if you buy those phones with cash, and just use em once. i mean 13€ ?

Redwraithvienna

lol, in ireland 911 is 112, so that button wont work

zincrox

I´m not at all with Greenpeace etc. (bunch of lousy people which are no real solution providers), but this product realy stinks. I don´t see any reason for having a disposable cell phone.

tucon

Surely they should be recycled. We have already seen the huge amount of rubbish piles of old mobiles.

Yeebles

yuck

jonny

I'm sure the first-responders will really appreciate that huge 911 button after the 100th call from someone who "just pressed it with my face on a disposable cell, sorry."

The Sword Master

Hop-on? Are they still around?!

They've been selling the concept since 2001. It took a while to get products out the door, but they were fakes - just rebranded nokias. Then it seems, they turned to patent trolling (with a design patent, no less!).

The concept may be good - other people are working on $10 phones, but I won't believe it until I see it in a store. Even that doesn't mean it's not a temporary loss-leader looking for some investors.

Remember their successful Jurassic Park tie-in? Me neither.

morcheeba

I'm going to Paris for a few days, and my CDMA phone won't work. A cheap disposable phone like this would be ideal.

lafond66

This is no different from my 20 buck prepaid phone.

lonewolf333

[www.hop-on.com]
It has a phonebook for 100 entries. What kind of evolution are the designers hoping for humankind to use those features without a LCD?

1)Make a cell phone without a simple LCD and sell it for 20$'s in hard-to-open clamshell package.
2)
3)Make profit.

Charpan

this is pointless. as stated earlier, it' only useful if you're a criminal

AqueousBeef

Spitzer is sure to pick up thousands of these.....

jcrockerman

this phone is futile.

not unless;

you're in the middle of nowhere and your battery is dead.

your monthly subscription line was cut off.

and

hooker hot line.

Amiash

Imagine someone desperatly trying to buy a phone like this from a vending mashine while being robbed...

TimurY

I agree that I can see a use for this while travelling. Certainly it has limited uses, but I'd likely but it a few times over the course of the next 5 years while travelilng to places my phone doesn't work (= anywhere outside of North America). It sounds like significantly less hassle than some other options.

tyskkvinna

male roof blower

Coming soon! The disposable laptop computers and printers.

In 20xx, the launch of our disposable computer speakers will be out. Stay tuned!

GoodBytes

"Doh! I could've used one of the these!"

- E. Spitzer

howdytex

i can think of a few different uses for the disposable phone, some covert, some not
now if could only remember to pick one up when i am out shopping
hey, maybe my therapy seal will remember for me

godwhacker

I could see a use for this if it was like 5 euro or maybe 5-10 dollars but above that why not just go by a net10 or tracfone.

I can see a person using this if say there battery died or they don't have a phone an need one for emergency or some other reason or maybe a person forgot there phone an needs one and doesn't feel like going home to pick theres up in no way is this worth 13 euro or whatever price they charge

utube2007

what an awful idea. i can buy a normal cell phone for 20 bucks. this is just going to create heaps and heaps of trash because nobody's going to remember to recycle it.

nerdia314

Why is it a bad idea and so great for criminals?
Go to target right now, virgin mobile has a few phones ~$20, buy a card pay cash and although you have to fear store cameras you still get the anonymity of the phone oh then activate it online at a public place. I dont think there is anything unique about the anonymity of the phone other than the convenience.

The 911 button is dumb though. Guess good when you're panicked and you're like Whats the number for 911!!1

awdark

disposable cell phone? really?

the actual cell phone challenge that needs to be conquered, and that certainly has a waiting market, is for a cell phone that won't crap out in some form after a year or so.

noasalira

@twoeightnine: If you gotta commit a crime and call people while doing so, or setting it up, use a prepaid, works just as well, probably better.

One thing, however, activate it yourself and only use cash to pay for it.

GOKOR

Camaro02