Image gallery: Next-gen cell phone stars shine

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February 17, 2009 (PC World)

Samsung's green Blue Earth phone

Samsung really pulled out the stops this year in terms of innovation, and one of the most unusual handsets in its lineup is the Blue Earth, which the company bills as "the first solar-powered full-touch phone." It has a solar panel on the back and comes with a couple of eco-conscious applications, including an eco-walk calculator that uses a built-in pedometer to figure out how many steps you've taken -- and then calculates how much CO₂ emission you've saved by walking instead of driving.

Even the packaging for the phone is eco-friendly (made from recycled paper), and its charger (for when there's not enough sun to power the device) is rated five-star energy efficient and uses less than 0.03 watts of standby power.

The Blue Earth is made from recycled PCM plastic, extracted from water bottles, and (according to Samsung) is "free from harmful substances such as Brominated Flame Retardant, Beryllium and Phthalate." Kind of makes you wonder whether the rest of the phones we use typically have this evil-sounding stuff in them.

News from Mobile World Congress:

• Smartphones becoming prime platform for app makers
• New Windows Mobile UI now 'finger-friendly'
• Adobe preps full Flash player for smartphones
• HTC takes aim at iPhone 3G with updated HTC Touch Diamond2
• Not worthy of iPhone, Adobe's Flash Lite surges
• LiMo's Linux-based mobile OS stack makes gains
• Arm to show its first 32nm smartphone chip

Reprinted with permission from

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