Alcatel have been quiet as of late but today at IFA 2017 have announced a smartwatch designed just for kids as well as two new phones, the IDOL 5S and the A7.
MOVETIME Family Watch
The MOVETIME Family Watch (MT30) is a 3G smartwatch powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 that is designed to be an introduction for kids into the “world of mobility” while at the same time giving parents piece of mind with the built in tracking. The watch features a 3G SIM slot that allows kids to call or message their parents (or friends) while at the same time providing location tracking and geo-fencing capabilities.
The watch itself is a bright, colourful design with interchangeable watchfaces to allow your child to customise it to their liking. The watch also includes a touch screen to allow the kids to easily interact with the user interface. It is powered by a 450mAh battery which is capable of up to two days of battery life. Keep in mind that there are games on the watch so your child may run that battery out a lot faster than expected.
As you would hope in a kids watch, it is IP67 water-proof and dust-proof and generally robust. The watch also includes an SOS button which can be used to call for help in an emergency and the geofencing capabilities can alert the parent when the child exits a pre-determined zone. This is done through the MOVETIME Track & Talk parent’s app.
The Alcatel MOVETIME Family Watch (MT30) will retail for just $149, and will be available in Australia in early 2018.
Alcatel A7
The Alcatel A7 is a low end phone that houses a 5.5 inch display and is powered by a Mediatek octacore processor. There is a whopping 4000mAh battery powering 32GB of onboard storage and 3GB of RAM and can be topped up using their fast charging.
The phone is designed for multimedia without paying vast sums of money. It has a 16MP rear camera featuring PDAF and a f/2.0 aperture. The front-facing camera is a decent 8MP camera
The Alcatel A7 will be available in Australia in early 2018 and will retail for just $299.
IDOL 5S
Announced not long ago the IDOL 5S is Alcatel’s long-awaited successor to the IDOL 4S. The LTE-enabled phone is just 7.5mm thin with a 5.2 inch display which is curved on the edges (not like the Infinity Display but more like a tempered glass screen protector).
Once again the IDOL 5S has dual front-facing speakers along with a 12MP rear camera and 8MP front facing camera. There is a dedicated “NOW” button that can be used to launch and app/task/action of your choice. All this is powered by a MediaTek MT6757CH processor, 32GB of internal memory, 3GB RAM and a 2850 mAh battery.
Of their new releases Sam Skontos, VP and Regional Managing Director, Alcatel South-East Asia and Pacific said:
Our releases announced today at IFA prove once again that premium and innovative technology can be met with affordability and accessibility. The MOVETIME Family Watch is a particularly exciting addition for us, as we move further into the wearables space. It provides the independence kids crave with the peace of mind parents need, all delivered in a fun, intuitive and affordable smart watch that we can’t wait to bring to Australia and New Zealand
It is good to see Alcatel bringing their devices to our shores. The more the merrier and the kids smartwatch certainly has a few of us here at Ausdroid sitting up and paying attention.
