Green Daily

Sure, the iPhone can boast a smorgasbord of sweet apps, but does it have a solar panel? While the Apples and Blackberries (what's the deal with the fruit references?) of the phone world duke it out to create the most fashionable "it" phone, Samsung has been quietly been developing the ultimate eco-phone. Wisely resisting the temptation to beat us over the head with the phone's greenness, Samsung has chosen to go with the name Blue Earth for the world's first solar powered cell phone.

As you can see in the photo, the Blue Earth is all business in the front, panels in the back. And despite that the phone is still very pocket-friendly, the panels can actually harvest enough energy to fully charge the phone. Like other eco-friendly phones on the market, the Blue Earth's casing is completely non-toxic and made from recycled plastic bottles. For those of you worried about practical stuff, the fully touch screen phone functions as a pedometer (to encourage walking), and has a battery saving "eco mode" that moderates things like screen brightness and Bluetooth.

More details will be released after Samsung unveils the phone during this years Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Word has it that the Blue Earth will hit the streets in late 2009.

[via Inhabitat]