Consumer Cellular Expands Product Line-up with Senior-Friendly, Large-Button Cell Phones
Consumer Cellular, a nationwide provider of cellular phones and services, is expanding its product line to include two senior-friendly cell phones designed by Doro, an award-winning Swedish company with more than 30 years of product design experience. With enlarged, raised buttons and easy-to-read display text, the Doro PhoneEasy 345 and 410 cell phones offered exclusively by Consumer Cellular make dialing and text messaging simple for all users.
“We recently surveyed our customers and found that 62 percent would prefer a cell phone with easier-to-read, enlarged buttons and display text,” said John Marick, Consumer Cellular co-founder and CEO. “This is why we partnered with Doro, an international leader in innovative and user-friendly consumer electronics, to offer phones that specifically meet the needs of many of our customers.”
The Doro PhoneEasy models offer a loud and vibrating ringer, soft-touch surfaces for better grip and Bluetooth technology for operation with wireless headsets and neck loops, as well as advanced hearing aids. Doro develops features that make using phones simpler, like large, contoured, separated buttons for easier dialing. While well-suited for those with special needs, the Doro PhoneEasy 345 and 410 are also more contemporary and stylish than other models on the market. The phones also feature an alarm clock, FM radio, calculator, flashlight and games, which can be turned off for a simpler menu.
“We are pleased Consumer Cellular has added these two models to its product line-up,” said Doro’s CEO Jerome Arnaud. “Doro phones are well-liked with senior citizens and are among the most successful phones with Europe’s mature individuals. Combined with Consumer Cellular’s affordable and flexible calling plans, I am confident that these models will be equally popular in the U.S.”
Doro 410
The Doro PhoneEasy 345 is a basic, bar-style phone, while the 410 features a clamshell flip design and is available in black and white. Other features of the Doro PhoneEasy models include:
- Affordable
- Doro PhoneEasy 345: $40 (plus $35 activation fee)
- Doro PhoneEasy 410: $50 (plus $35 activation fee)
- Two-way speakerphone
- Phonebook with up to 300 entries
- SMS text messaging
- Emergency text-message alerts and call list
- Option to hide unwanted functions
- Lightweight; handset weight including batteries
- Soft-touch coating for better grip
Key Statistics about Senior Consumer Electronics Marketplace
Older Americans are sophisticated, informed consumers looking for functionality, but these needs are rarely met in their cell phones (2009 Consumer Electronics Association and TNS Compete study):
- 64 percent of people aged 60 and older say that consumer electronics have too many features
- 33 percent of senior citizens are living with hearing impairments
Designed with active seniors in mind, Consumer Cellular’s Doro phones accommodate reduced dexterity, hearing loss and decreased vision.
About Consumer Cellular
Consumer Cellular, the exclusive wireless provider for AARP, was founded in 1995 on the belief that everyone should have affordable access to the safety and convenience of cellular service. The company provides its customers with simple, affordable cell phones and calling plans, guaranteed satisfaction and top-ranked customer support staff all located within the United States. Plus, Consumer Cellular customers never have to sign a long-term contract in order to start service.
The Portland, Ore.-based company is privately held and utilizes the nation’s largest voice and data network, covering more than 296 million people – or 97 percent of the U.S. population. As one of the nation’s leading wireless wholesalers, Consumer Cellular is able to purchase wireless service in large volumes, providing its customers with the best of both worlds: great low rates and the best cellular network available.
Doro 410 – First Look by CNET
About Doro
With more than 30 years of experience in telephony, Doro is today characterized by its innovative and user-friendly telecom products. The company develops, markets and sells a wide range of telecom products in more than 30 countries through a variety of retail outlets, including electronics stores and online stores. Sold in more than 30 countries worldwide, Doro reported sales growth of 39 percent in the first half of 2009. Doro’s shares are quoted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, Nordic list, Small Cap list (STO: DORO).
