14 DAY TRIAL // South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung announced on Wednesday that its first solar-powered mobile phone would soon come to the market. And while the first Samsung handset to use solar power and become commercially available around the world was expected to be the Blue Earth (which was unveiled back in February), it seems that the E1107 Crest Solar will hit store shelves first.
The specification list of the new Samsung E1107 Crest Solar shows that it will include support for dual-band GSM (900/1800MHz) frequencies and will sport a large solar cell on the back cover, which allows for the 800mAh battery it includes to be recharged when exposed to the sun. According to the mobile phone maker, the handset can offer an additional 5 to 10 minutes of talk time in case it is exposed to the solar light for an hour while being turned off.
The new mobile phone also comes to the market with a series of other features that can usually be spotted within handsets, including a built-in FM radio, a flashlight/torch function and MP3 ringers. In addition, Samsung says, the device will also feature a series of specific functionalities according to the market it will become available in. At the same time, the phone includes a fake call function, which should come in handy in certain situations.
One more feature that the new Crest Solar comes with is the Mobile Tracker, a functionality that sends alerts when the SIM card in the device is swapped. The solar-powered phone comes with a 1.52-inch CSTN display that boasts a 128 x 128 pixel resolution and supports 65K colors, includes 40 polyphonic ringtones, and measures 105.2mm x 44.2mm x 16.4mm (4.1in x 1.7in x .6in).
According to Samsung, the new E1107 Crest Solar will come to the market in June 2009 , and will be available for purchase in India, Europe, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia and Latin America. Unfortunately, no exact details on the price tag of the phone were unveiled, though it seems that in India it is available as Samsung Solar Guru and is priced at $59 unlocked.
