Samsung unveils the Blue Earth solar-powered phone

If you're a tree hugging environmentalist who is at inner war with himself over the use of your battery chugging, electricity wasting, polluting cellphone, Samsung just might have a new handset for you. The Blue Earth model, introduced today, is a touchscreen phone made from recycled plastic culled from plastic water bottles, called PCM. The unit will have a solar panel on the back which will allow for enough power to make phone calls. A battery will provide the energy for other functions, but the recharger will be energy efficient. The brightness level of the display, backlight duration and bluetooth can be set on "Eco mode" which is a setting designed to save power. The Blue Earth will be equipped with a pedometer to count how many steps you are taking and while you are walking, the pedometer will also calculate how much CO2 you have saved from being released into the Earth's atmosphere by walking instead of taking the car. The UI will feature a unique design that will draw attention to "preserving our fragile environment". It will be packaged in recycled materials and is expected to hit the stores in the UK during the second half of this year. This is a model that we expect to see more of at next week's MWC show in Barcelona.

source: Samsung Hub