Sprint Nextel Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday they will sell a $49.99 "eco-conscious" phone with a casing of biodegradable plastic made partly from corn.
Several manufacturers have made "green" phones, but they have generally been bare-bones devices, like Motorola Inc.'s Renew, carried by T-Mobile USA. Nokia Corp.'s Evolve is also a simple, low-end phone and lacks the backing of a U.S. carrier.
The new Samsung Reclaim is a more fully featured phone, sporting a slide-out alphabetic keyboard, e-mail and Web access, a camera and GPS navigation. The phone goes on sale Aug. 16.
The plastic of the casing is 40 percent corn-based. The phone's charger lights up when the phone is fully charged, to remind the owner to unplug it to save electricity.
David Owens, Sprint Nextel Corp.'s director of product marketing, said the company is paying more than the usual amount of subsidies to Samsung to bring the price down to $49.99 for customers signing two-year contracts.
"We took a big step to put it under the $50 price because that's where we know there's a lot of volume," he said.
The price applies after a $50 mail-in rebate.
Conran
good step ahead - and when one is hungry - you can start eating it up (at least 40 % of it) - i love corn
1It's a clever for now, but I'm not sure I like the idea of corn being used for phones; I'd rather see more recycled materials.
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2"Expose thyself to what wretches feel," King Lear said, entering the mud and straw hovel of Poor Tom, "and show the heavens more just."
i wonder if it will self destruct in the rain like most corn based products.
3***************
"I will marshal all the forces of darkness to hound you to an assisted suicide." - In the Loop
Interesting idea!
4I have TMobile and the phone I have is made from 100% recycled materials and the casing is 100% recyclable.
5Interesting idea.
6maybe they felt the high price would force people to bring their own bags and get the nickle back instead
7***************
"I will marshal all the forces of darkness to hound you to an assisted suicide." - In the Loop
Corn farmers thank Samsung.
8oh LB that was a good one and i love Samantha's comment as well - with that Raining Thingy...
9Roar, what phone do you have?
10Neat article, Martini. Thanks!
Also curious about Roar's phone. How is the quality versus a non-recyclable phone?
11Motorola W233 Renew green phone. It has no bells and whistles, not even a camera. But it is an MP3 player in addition to being a phone. I like it. It does what it needs to.
12That sounds perfect actually. I don't really want / need all the bells and whistles. I rarely take pictures with my phone.
13Is this it, Roar?
14Is that only for use with Sprint?
15That is it Martini. I have Tmobile Amy. It is perfect and it was only $10.
16lveenia, I was thinking the same thing, How funny.
17I can't imagine someone dismantling the electronics and reprocessing the case. One of these days there is going to be a sci fi movie with a gigantic waste pile of semiconductors miles high.
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