At the recent Mobile World Congress 2009, Samsung unleashed their much-hyped eco-friendly phone, Blue Earth. 

For those people who are truly into saving the planet, they may want to reconsider using the older mobile handset models. Apparently the entire process of making a mobile and using it, right from the manufacturing units for the base materials, to the actual emissions caused by using the phone, is very harsh on the environment. Blue Earth rights all those wrongs. 

Firstly, the phone is solar powered; there are panels on the reverse that absorb enough energy to run the phone even when the battery is completely exhausted. Additionally, this marvellous device is a touch screen phone, without any buttons except the call and disconnect ones. It is designed to resemble a shiny stone with rounded edges, and has a glossy finish. 

The eco-friendly wonders of this mobile phone do not stop at the phone being solar powered. The casing is made entirely of recycled plastic, also known as PCM. PCM is extracted from recycled plastic items like water bottles. The box, in which the handset is packaged, is made of recycled paper once again. 

In fact, all the hardware along with the phone is made without the use of harmful elements. For example, no substances like Brominated Flame Retardants, Beryllium and Phthalate were used during the manufacturing process. The charger has been deemed a 5-star energy efficient device, and uses a minimal standby power of approximately 0.03 watts. 

In addition to all the worthy environmentally safe elements of the phone, Samsung evidently couldn’t resist tacking on a few gimmicks on to the phone.

There is a carbon emission calculator that lets the user know exactly how much carbon fumes have been saved when he does not take his car to work. The phone uses an in-built pedometer, which counts the number of footsteps the user walks and translates this figure into the number of trees that have been saved as a result. The eco-walk feature could potentially be a powerful motivator for fewer car rides and more walking, something that is beneficial on many levels, personal and global. 

The phone seems to be very attractive, even though it mimics a pebble and in spite of the rather advanced technology that has been packed into it. It is of a regular size, even though solar panels usually make for bulky devices; this phone should fit comfortably in a pocket or a handbag. 

The phone is scheduled to be released towards the latter end of 2009, however no details about the price or even a price range have been divulged as of now. Providing the phone does not prove to be too expensive, the green angle of the phone will make it highly desirable to a certain segment of the market. Perhaps even to those people who chronically forget or misplace their chargers; the solar power panels will come in handy. 

There have been other eco-friendly phones released, but this particular one seems to have gone the whole nine yards.