Many companies are now focusing much more on eco-friendly products and the wireless industry is not about to be left behind. A number of companies, including Samsung and ZTE, announced solar-powered mobile phones at the Mobile World Congress.
From Samsung comes the Blue Earth. Shaped like a flat and well rounded shiny pebble and made of recycled plastic, it comes with a solar panel on the back. A full charge will take between 10 and 14 hours and deliver about 4 hours of talk time. It can also be charged with a conventional charger. Full specifications were not disclosed but a few details are available. The Blue Earth will be a touchscreen device with a pedometer that will tell you how much CO2 emissions you save by walking and a user interface that will remind you about the environment. An “Eco mode” will adjust device settings such as screen brightness, backlight duration and Bluetooth usage, to preserve power. It will also come with a 5 star energy efficient charger that will use less than 0.03W in standby.
The Blue Earth will launch in Europe in the second half of the year. Pricing was not revealed but is described as falling in the range of mid to high-end handsets.
The ZTE Coral-200-Solar is a fairly basic phone destined for emerging markets. It is a candybar design with solar panels on the back panel. Details are slim at this point. Designed with Latin America carrier Digicel and Dutch-based Intivation, it is expected in June.
LG also announced plans to offer a solar-powered phone later this year. Their clamshell design will need a 10-minute charge to deliver up to 3 minutes of talk time.