Eco Friendly -- Engadget Mobile

eco-friendly posts

Sprint ramps up green effort with dedicated online, in-store presence for new accessories

by Chris Ziegler posted Sep 9th 2009 @ 3:13AM

It doesn't end with the Samsung Reclaim -- oh no, Sprint's eco-effort is going far beyond that. Well, maybe not far beyond that, but at least we're not just talking phones anymore. The carrier has announced that it's now offering a line of dedicated Earth-friendly accessories, including a couple cases made from recycled materials, a dual-mode universal car / wall charger that's Energy Star 2.0 compliant for minimum vampire power draw, and a single-panel Solio charger. To help call attention to the line, there'll be a dedicated web portal in addition to special in-store presence, so if you're a Sprint customer, odds are you'll have a hard time missing this stuff in the coming months.

Samsung and Sprint introduce the Reclaim -- a cellphone made from corn

by Joshua Topolsky posted Aug 6th 2009 @ 9:53AM

We love the Earth, and apparently so do Sprint and Samsung. The two companies have just introduced the Reclaim, a super-eco cellphone made from 80 percent recycled materials. The device -- a stout, sliding, QWERTY message-friendly model -- is constructed from "bio-plastic" materials made from corn, is free of PVC, and mostly free of BFR (brominated flame retardants)... which are apparently pretty bad. The phone also has a 2 megapixel camera, stereo Bluetooth, can accept microSD cards (we assume) up to 32GB, and has Sprint Navigation onboard. The packaging will be eco-friendly as well, as it's constructed from 70 percent recycled materials and printed with soy-based ink. The carrier will be selling the Reclaim in "Earth Green" or "Ocean Blue" come August 16th for $50 (after a $30 instant rebate and $50 mail-in rebate) with a two-year contract. Additionally, $2 of that profit will be funneled to the Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program. Finally, a phone that goes with your Prius.

Sony Ericsson's Naite GreenHeart gets hands-on treatment

by Darren Murph posted Jun 4th 2009 @ 7:49PM

Granted, most of the pizzaz in Sony Ericsson's Naite GreenHeart phone is within, but there's still something special about peering at the exterior of a phone and just envisioning all that tree-hugging magic that's going on within. We know the full-on teardown will happen soon enough, but 'til then, feast your eyes on the gallery waiting in the read link.

Sharp slings out industry's thinnest solar modules for cellphones

by Darren Murph posted May 26th 2009 @ 10:56AM

Timely, no? Just a month after Sharp aided in producing the planet's first waterproof solar cellphone, the aforementioned outfit has just announced the industry's thinnest solar module for handsets. Checking in at just 0.8 millimeters thick, the LR0GC02 shouldn't take up too much space on your ~~daughter's~~ great-granddaughter's smartphone, and while Sharp isn't handing over too many details just yet, we figure it'll pretty much do what it says. You know -- charge the handset it's integrated into whenever sunlight is available. As for when we'll see these in cellphones everywhere? Take a wild guess, tree-hugger.

[Via Akihabara News]

Wooden Nokia concept phone goes beyond the drawing board, gets built

by Darren Murph posted Oct 13th 2008 @ 4:09PM

Oh sure, LG has teased us with a faux wood cellphone, and Hulger has actually produced one that four people in existence can afford, but this... this is something else. According to the captions in textlad's Flickr pool, Nokia's own eco-team designed and created the object of desire that you see above: an 8-megapixel "handset" that appears to function just fine. We can already tell you this thing isn't coming to market, but we would absolutely love to be proven wrong.

[Via TreeHugger, thanks shellshock]