The Jitterbug

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September 9th, 2006 by Mike in Mobile Phones

The Jitterbug
Cell phones do more and more these days, they can browse the web, play video and music, provide you with GPS directions, take videos and more. That’s great for some people, but there are some that just want a phone that will call 911 and a few friends when they need it.

That’s what the Jitterbug does. Don’t be afraid of the silly name, it’s not one of one of those kid oriented phones such as the Firefly, it actually looks pretty sleek.

As soon as you flip open the phone, you’ll hear a dial tone to signal that you’re ready to make a call. You can clearly see three large illuminated buttons. The first reads Operator, which will connect you to one of the Jitterbug operators, who are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This allows you to lookup a number, find a tow truck, or call a number of your choice. The next reads My Choice, which will instantly dial your most dialed number. The last is for emergencies that reads 911, pretty simple.

If you ever need to do any navigating around the phone, that’s pretty simple too. All options are yes or no questions that can be read clearly on the large font color screen.

You will have to buy cellular service for your phone to work, but there a variety of plans you can get, even one with a miniscule 30 minutes! Cellular coverage should be available across the continental US, but there are always spots where you just can’t get a signal.

A cell phone is pretty much a no brainer these days, it can be extremely useful in emergencies and simply when you want to contact someone from the middle of nowhere, and for those who just want the basics, but not some dorky looking phone the Jitterbug looks pretty good. You can get yours for $150 (includes phone, free car charger, and 100 free minutes) from firstSTREET.

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Gadget Gallery up to 09-12-2006

7 Comments on “The Jitterbug”

Gadget Gallery up to 09-12-2006 » Coolest Gadgets Says:

September 12th, 2006 at 12:23 pm

[...] The Jitterbug [...]

贝壳|数码极客» Blog Archive » 只有三个按键的手机 Says:

September 13th, 2006 at 10:32 pm

[...] 这种手机适合老年人使用，人年纪大了以后记性就不太好了，也记不住长长的电话号码了，更不会使用复杂的功能了，那这个Jitterbug三键手机就非常适合这类人群使用了标签：移动通讯手机新奇创意 [...]

T Slattery Says:

March 26th, 2007 at 12:14 pm

I bought a Jitterbug a month ago, not because I’m technically
challenged (I program web pages for a living), but it offers a
cheap ($10/mo) service plan. The promotional stuff says that
your phone will arrive preprogrammed with up to 5 numbers.

Nope. Nobody contacted me before the phone was shipped,
there are no numbers stored on it. No problem, the manual
tells how to store numbers.

Nope, Jitterbug, in its infinite wisdom, has disabled that
function. I can’t do it myself. So I can call the Jitterbug
operator, or contact user support to get numbers stored on my phone.

Fine, I call the Operator, and give her the numbers. She says to
leave the phone on for 48 hours, and they’ll show up.

Nope. Nothing. At this point user support has told me multiple times
that the numbers have been sent but nothing has ever arrived. So I
can’t use the phone’s internal phone book. Jitterbug says that
they broke the “store numbers” function because they refresh the
stored numbers periodically, so anything I entered would be wiped
out. But they seem to be unable to send numbers to my phone. Isn’t
this a very fundamental capability of a mobile phone?

Oh yeah…the promotional material says that there will be a website
by “early 2007″ where you can view your account details, give it
numbers to send to your phone, etc, etc. It’s the last week of
March, and no such thing exists.

danaebeckles Says:

November 21st, 2007 at 8:21 am

i wanting the cellphone because i seeing the essence book and i wears two hearsing aids in both ears that wyh i wanting the cell phohe because it sound loud and clear and that is a really a good cell phone.

T Slattery Says:

November 21st, 2007 at 1:17 pm

Update: After many complaints, Jitterbug finally unlocked my phone so that I can use the keyboard to manipulate my phone number list.

The web site now exists, but does not have the functionallity that was promised. You can update your phone number list (since they have been unable to make this work for me in the past, I haven’t tried it), but you can’t look at your account, see how many minutes you’ve used and how many are left.

SO things have improved, and I’m happy with my phone. But it took a good deal of complaining to Jitterbug to get things fixed.

Shawn Says:

December 4th, 2007 at 8:29 pm

I got the Jitterbug and posted a review of it on my blog. I love it - best phone I’ve owned.

Ethel Says:

January 21st, 2008 at 10:58 pm

I have had the Jitterbug for three months now and they have messed up on my bill continuously. I am very upset with having to deal with their Customer Service representatives. The phone is a bit bulky, extremely heavy, and not what I thought it would be. I found out that their plans are not very competitive either. Personally, I am going to return the phone. Everything has been very frustrating.

The Jitterbug

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7 Comments on “The Jitterbug”

Gadget Gallery up to 09-12-2006 » Coolest Gadgets Says:

贝壳|数码极客» Blog Archive » 只有三个按键的手机 Says:

T Slattery Says:

danaebeckles Says:

T Slattery Says:

Shawn Says:

Ethel Says:

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