Wacky Wireless News: Teeny-Tiny Cell Phones Marketed to Prison Inmates

Posted on Aug 23rd 2013

At one time, the smaller your cell phone was, the cooler you were. See: fictional model Derek Zoolander's impossibly tiny phone. It seemed like cell phones were heading toward Barbie accessory territory when suddenly the mobile market took a turn in the opposite direction, toward bigger screen sizes and phone/tablet hybrids dubbed phablets. Now it seems Zoolander-style cell phones are making a comeback in at least one market: prisons.

Key fob-sized cell phones emerging from China sport logos from high-end car companies like BMW, Bentley and Lamborghini. These fob-sized phones can be smuggled into prisons fairly easily, apparently – so easily that the UK is considering banning the phones altogether to prevent further smuggling.

With fob phone descriptions claiming features like “very, very, very low metal content,” it would seem that these phones are being marketed specifically for prison inmates. A phone made mostly out of plastic may be able to get by metal detectors like those used in prisons to prevent prisoners from smuggling in contraband like cell phones.

Fob-sized phones can send and receive phone calls – some can even text! – and are available for about $65 online. Just in case, you know, you're feeling a little nostalgic for the early 2000s.