Verizon announces child-locator service

Now, Verizon Wireless is here to answer your question with its new "Chaperone" service, which displays the location of a child's cell phone on a map, either on your phone or on the Web.

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“Where are you?," is a common phrase parent always use on phones while talking with their children.

Now, Verizon Wireless is here to answer your question with its new "Chaperone" service, which displays the location of a child's cell phone on a map, either on your phone or on the Web.

New York City based-Verizon on Monday launched a new service aimed at parents who wish to keep track of where their children are, through their cell phones. Furthermore, the service will give children a way to easily contact their parents.

The "Chaperone" service would be provided in conjunction with the kid-friendly LG Migo, a restricted-dialing kiddie phone aimed at children 5 to 9.

The Migo cell phone, designed for easy operation by even the youngest users, calls only four numbers and can't send or receive text messages, so it is more of a focused safety device than a general-purpose communicator. It uses GPS capabilities built into the phone in order to track a child's position.

The parent would be able to watch where the Migo phone is located from a map on the Verizon Web site, for USD 9.99 a month. Likewise, parents can download a cell phone-based application that would perform similar functions, Verizon informed. Supported parent phones include the Motorola E815 and RAZR V3c, the LG VX4700/5200/6100/7000//8100/9800, and the Samsung SCH-a950 and a970.

The service will also let parents for over-the-air programming of the phone's calling buttons, as well as customizing other settings including language and disabling or enabling of the emergency calling button.

One more feature, called Child Zone, provides a service for parents where they would be alerted when the Migo phone leaves a predetermined area. The service would send a text message to the parent's Verizon phone. The service would cost US $19.99 per line when the Child Zone feature is added. The LG Migo costs US$49.99 with a two-year service agreement.

Lee Daniels, Verizon product development director, said in a statement, “ Chaperone gives parents an added tool for keeping in contact with their children," and "If the unexpected happens, a child carrying a Chaperone-enabled Migo phone will be able to quickly get in touch with parents or another responsible adult - and even emergency personnel - who can help."

Verizon's service follows Reston, VA based- Sprint's launch of "Family Locator," a similar service, in April. The differences between the two services are interesting: Whereas, Verizon's service is more secure-as they are allowing this service to be used only within a single Family Plan that means you can't track any phone that isn't on your plan, but, on the other hand, Sprint's is far more flexible and works on far more phones.

Verizon and Sprint will be joined by the new Disney Mobile, which will have its own family locator service, as well, likely to be launched in late next month.