World's first waterproof solar cellphone from Sharp makes Somalian pirates say arggg!
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Apr 20th 2009 7:19AM
posted Apr 20th 2009 7:19AM
[Via Akihabara News]
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Developing nations always get the coolest tech first!
No because they cannot release the thing anywhere else..
No more rejected repairs stating "Water Damage" by the lazy ass tech...
WTF! this phone is WATER PROOF.. you go and replace my phone Biotch!
no, somalian pirates say, uhhhhhh! na na na naaa!
(I wish they would dress up like real pirates, that would be epic)
That will go well with the new yacht bought yesterday..
I'll keep my Vertu ashore..
Um...waterproof & solar...do they actually go together?? like charging the phone while swimming ... or the phone getting wet in a desert :-D
do they actually go together
They do when its raining and you need to charge your phone!
Yeah, because the sun shines so brightly when it is raining.
Because the sun shines so brightly in my pocket...
"it charges to a minute of talk "
this is a mistake right?
Literacy goes beyond mere recognition of letters or words. ;)
10 minutes of solar charging = 1 minute of talk time
It's early and i'm tired, i can't tell if your making fun of me or not.
1 minute of talk time FTL
FOR EVERY ten minutes you charge it YOU GET ANOTHER one minute of talk time.
10 = 1
20 = 2
30 = 3
40 = 4
50 = 5
60 = 6
thank you kind sir, im going back to sleep now....
So what if you stand under the sun while talking.... What will it do?
Talk or charge or both??
hmmmm......
Requiring that much charge time is an easy way to stop talking nonsense on the phone and forcing your bill to drop.
As much as I appreciate the initiative to incorporate the technology into a device, I wish all companies would try to master the solar panel technology before including it into devices... i personally think it's better to use a plug in solar charger as you can replace that as technology improves... but then again, I tend to keep my hardware for more than 2 years.
how can you master something from the first time?
no offence, but cameras used to be black and white..
got to start somewhere..
What does it have to do with TPB?
Nothing. They're talking about *real* pirates that hijack ships off the coast of sunny Somalia.
*Hands dzhiurgis some coffee*
Thanks for the coffee *404* :D
I just remembered comment from yesterday about TPB & Somali Pirates :)
It's a good thing Capt. Phillips made it home safely after he was able to jump off that lifeboat. Otherwise some of the content of this post could be in very poor taste!
I must have this phone now. Imagine making phone calls on a deserted island
Um. Which network has cell towers on deserted islands?
DHL!
There are some places in the world where cell phone towers appear before twisted-pair telephone technology. They leap frog. I wonder if this phone is GSM. I would suppose so, since much of the developing world is GSM. On the other hand, if the case is meant to be opened, how well is it water proofed.
I was thinking this would be a good phone for backpackers. Someone who just want to travel around being a vagabond. I'd keep it just for emergencies, and hang it out side my backpack, that way its always charged.
Nice how people getting kidnapped at gunpoint for ransom is just a big joke...
Pirates say "Arrrrrr".
"Arggg" is what you say when a pirate stabs you in the stomach.
:-/
thats cool and all, and i can really see this being popular in an urban environment.....but in Somali theres not only no power; theres also no reception.....
Strangely enough, Somalia is known for it booming cell phone business:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_Somalia
It turns out that when the civil war broke out, looters tore down all the public phone companies wires to sell leaving no phone service whatsoever.
Entrepreneurs (backed by warlords who wanted cell phone service) set up shops with home brew cell phone towers all over. Considering it is the only way to communicate with someone there (besides ham radio) it is rather popular amoung Somalians much more so than any other African nation.
What's with all those showy terms for somalians, warlords, pirates, what next?
Seems they inspire journalists, or army people, whoever thinks up these descriptions.
Are "Somalians" similar to Somalis? :-)
We went over this already, somalians are all people from the country somalia, and somalis are the ethnic group that are largely presented in somalia.
At least that what a somalian/somali said in another comment.
"In continuation of a recent trend of major manufacturers announcing a new-found interest in making a buck off developing nations"
Hey newsflash, we've been doing this for DECADES since the end of WWII. How do you think we as a country got so rich and manage to stay rich????
Word of advice, if you're going to try and sneak some political nonsense in your posts at least know what you're talking about.
Anything which promotes solar energy gets my thumbs up.
Whether the phone is of any practical use matters not. It is important that we don't stifle these emerging technologies.
Maybe one day, when the oil oligarchs have had their fill (excuse the pun), might we start seeing such alternative energy products hit the mainstream market.
Here's a crazy thought, why not build a plethora of heliostat farms on equatorial locations, thus allowing humanity to wean itself off oil.
http://www.solreka.com
Solar Power Solutions
Oilbarons already moved to medicine manufacturers stock, so better get ready for a world of pain as they keep your health ransom (and without being called pirates nor mexican cartels).