India: Snagging young cell-phoners

It is a small world. Does this marketers' tactic in India sound way familiar - cell phone companies wooing kid customers with new interactive games, cartoons, and quizzes on phones? "While these companies say the plethora of information will open up a whole new world of 'learning with fun,' telecom experts say it is the trend worldwide to target specific groups like women, children and elderly and the same is happening here [in New Delhi] also," the Hindustan Times reports. So, the Times continues, you have the Whiz Kid (math, wildlife, current affairs info), Word Wizard (vocab booster), Games Garage, and Fact Monster on cell phones. Youth cell-phone demographics are pretty staggering in other parts of the world: 29% Hong Kong children 6-15 use mobiles, 25% in Australia and Japan, and cell phones were the most requested holiday gift last year by kids 10-15 in the UK, according to the Hindustan Times. Thanks to the Casey Journalism Center on Children and Families for pointing this piece out.