Samsung’s Solar-Powered Phone

Leading mobile handset manufacturer Samsung on Wednesday launched a low-cost solar-powered cell phone. They also added that they are about to release 20 new models of the solar-powered phone by the end of this year. The newly launched low-cost phone, named ‘Guru’ is available at the market for a price of Rs. 2,799. It has a solar panel at the back of the phone which is used to charge the battery anywhere if the sun is shining. J.S. Shin, president and chief executive of Samsung, Southwest Asia said that they designed this phone especially for the people who are in places where the power supply is very unstable. The model ‘Guru E1107’ can provide around 5-10 minutes of talk-time with one-hour of solar charging when the handset is turned off and sunlight has adequate intensity. They also added that the battery will attain full charge with 40 hours of solar charging. Dutt said that the ultimate aim of this model is to enable customers to make calls even if there is no electricity. The company is also planning to introduce in India its solar-powered touchscreen mobile handset, ‘Blue Earth’ which is unveiled at a technology conference in Barcelona, Spain early this year.