The retro tech company Tin Can reinvented the landline for kids. Next, it’s introducing Gen Alpha to the Rolodex. 

The brand’s core product, the $100 Tin Can phone (so named for its chunky, playful form factor) is a Wi Fi-enabled, screen-free landline complete with a spiral cord and a dial tone. Since its debut in June 2025, the phone has sold out seven production batches—equal to hundreds of thousands of units. 

Now, just over a year later, Tin Can is introducing its first nonphone products: Twirly Cord Charms, which let kids accessorize their own gadget and retail at $20 for a pack of five; and the Contact Keeper, a $40 new-school spin on the Rolodex. As part of the launch, the brand is also releasing a new version of its core product with entirely translucent hardware, called the Technicaller Clear.

For Tin Can’s founder and CEO, Chet Kittleson, this product expansion is part of a much bigger aspiration: getting the Tin Can into the homes of every elementary and middle schooler in the nation.

The idea for Tin Can struck Kittleson after his young daughter, Emma, lamented the fact that she had to go through her parents to make any plans with friends. ’” In a moment when countless companies were targeting adults’ desires to cut down on screen time with products like dumbphones and app blockers , Kittleson zeroed in on the less popular but equally relevant niche of screen-free tech for kids . So far, the concept is enjoying massive success.

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