World's first waterproof solar cellphone from Sharp makes Somalian pirates say arggg!

by Thomas Ricker posted Apr 20th 2009 at 7:19AM

In continuation of a recent trend of major manufacturers announcing a new-found interest in ~~making a buck off developing nations~~ solar-powered cellphones, AU (KDDI) and Sharp have announced the June launch of this unnamed solar handset. Besides being the world's first waterproof solar handset, it charges to a minute of talk or 2-hours of standby after just 10 minutes in the sun. No other specs were announced though we seriously doubt it'll be a power-sucking feature- or smart-phone. Naturally, it'll still be a boon to people where electricity is scarce but what about the industrious guy who owns the village car battery?

[Via Akihabara News]

Filed under: Handsets, Others, KDDI

Tags: au, clamshell, flip, kddi, sharp, solar, solar powered, SolarPowered, waterproof

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Wayne Schulz @ Apr 20th 2009 7:46AM

These solar doo-dads never seem to do much other than look good in press releases. LOL to the car battery!!

Neutral

JamesR @ Apr 20th 2009 8:13AM

I'm actually interested in replacing some appropriate gadgets with ones that are solar powered ... But a Cell phone? The only time it's not in my pocket is at night.

So when the hell would anyone charge this?

Neutral

B @ Apr 20th 2009 2:27PM

Worst headline ever.

Neutral

dishbreak @ Apr 21st 2009 3:05AM

You know, considering the wackiness of the hardware, the form factor doesn't look that bad. I mean, look at Samsung's solar-powered phone.

Neutral

TrueStreets @ May 25th 2009 4:26AM

Since this model is also water proof, this looks like one of the most ideal cell phones for camping. Now if it only had a basic GPS added to it would be a major success for avid campers. I know a few people who would practically pre order one of these guys especially if it had a GPS built in.

Neutral

ARAY @ May 25th 2009 5:30AM

In my opinion, the recent slate of solar-powered gadgets is backwards and ridiculous! It's makes FAR more sense to just build a low-voltage, low-power cell phone and couple it with a separate, solar-powered spare battery set! Doesn't it make more sense to charge a -- SPARE -- battery in the sun than to roast the entire high-tech gadget in question?

What third world city on Earth is going to develop the habit of placing high-tech phones out in the open to charge in the sun?

It would only make sense to charge spare batteries! Batteries are just as portable as cellphones and DO NOT need to be married as if they were inseparable! Let us all encourage theft! Please leave your portable SSD Laptop out in the sun for me to pick it off! I'm willing to give away the third one that I steal and thereafter!

Honest people will be made into thieves.

You know, with the average solar-powered mat, you could charge a MSI Wind U115 in less than 8 hours yet get 15 hours of use on the netbook! But, of course, I would prefer that you leave your laptop in the sun instead -- it will help to spread the wealth!

Neutral

whsy82 @ May 26th 2009 3:59PM

I use a solar charger to charge my IPod. I bought it for hiking trips but now just use it at work.

Why is this so odd? Or slated for the third-world? Yes, I get that some may stick their cell phone in their pocket. Conversely, I don't. I'd be glad to stick my cell phone on my window sill at work instead of having a sloppy charger on my kitchen counter or a thing dangling from a car cigarette lighter. For that matter, I could just stick the cell phone on my kitchen counter too, sans charger, when I get home.

Neutral

ARAY @ May 30th 2009 8:58PM

Hey whsy82,

Yeah, I don't carry my cell phone in my pocket often either! Enough time has not passed, in my opinion, to fully evaluate whether or not the emitted radiation might cause problems!

I'm also aggravated that these devices are often described as being "third world". The "developing nations" jab was thrown in the opening of the article!

I just don't understand why companies aren't yet offering solar charging options (even if $300) to their laptops/netbooks to get the ball rolling faster in that direction!

Neutral

3rensho @ Jun 24th 2009 9:12AM

I own one of these now that they are out in the market. It comes with GPS, 1-seg, felica and pretty much every other app any other cell phone here comes equipped with *and* it is IPX7 waterproof and has a built in solar cell for charging. People knocking it and saying it is a third world phone are oblivious. If you are even remotely active, this phone is a plus. It is nice to know that while I am out hiking or riding down deserted country roads on my bike I have a cell phone that is not going to run out of juice or get damaged if I get caught in the rain and forgot to toss my phone into a ziploc.

It also comes equipped with the au kddi software for those of us who run and the lismo player means I have the micro sd loaded with music for those runs. And it can global roam in 32 countries.

Yeah, maybe if you're a morlock for whom the sun is an evil blinding orb of fire you should look elsewhere.