During the 2008 Good Design Expo , Willcon displayed their Kuma concept phone to the adoring public.  The Kuma is a stuffed bear that can hold a phone sim card and can actually be used to send and receive voice phone calls.

Not really sure if I would give this a thumbs-up or thumbs-down.  Cuteness factor is a thumbs-up definitely.  I love how technology is used here, and how it completes the cuteness of the person using it.  Function for me is a little questionable, would you agree.  Here are my points towards the function thumbs-down:

1. Size – too big, wouldn’t fit a ladies bag.
2. Maintainability – sure those fluffy furs look cute now, but I’d wait for about a month or two and I bet it wouldn’t be as fluffy to hold.
3. Dialing – you can pre-set it to 4 telephone numbers, one for each paw.  If you press a paw, it dials a number.  but what if you have to call another person who’s not pre-set?  bummer.
4. Price – at US$500 per teddy, I’m sure you’d settle for a good Nokia PDA phone instead.

Related posts:

TicTalk Mobile Phone For the Kiddies
Port-O-Rotary: The Portable Rotary Cellular Phone
Cheap phone modelled on Coca-Cola cup
Google confirms plans for a mobile phone
How to save a wet cell phone

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