Samsung Blue Earth Solar Phone

Made from recycled plastic bottles and using the sun's power to charge, the Samsung Blue Earth solar cell phone is sure to be a winner with the treehugger crowd. Even its packaging promises to be eco-friendly; Samsung assures it will be made from recycled paper. And for those who are really concerned about the environment, the phone has an "Eco Walk" feature that will count the user's steps with a built-in pedometer and tell you how the amount of CO2 emissions that have been avoided by walking instead of driving.

Sounds like the perfect phone for eco warriors, right? Indeed, it is, but only if you're in Europe. When Samsung unveiled the solar phone at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in mid-February, Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, they announced the phone would hit the shelves in Europe in mid-2009. No release date was announced for the U.S. market. So Americans may have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on this beauty or a comparable solar phone. In the meantime, environmentalists will have to settle for solar cell phone chargers for their mobile devices.

The Blue Earth is a full-feature touchscreen phone that will offer the usual cell phone bells and whistles, also with the following "green" features:

- solar panel on the back

- made from recycled plastic extracted from water bottles

- free from harmful substances such as Brominated Flame Retardant, Beryllium and Phthalate

- 5-star energy efficient charger uses standby power lower than 0.03W

- small, lightweight package made from recycled paper