Puma Phone hands-on
By Sean Cooper 
posted February 17th 2010 12:53AM
posted February 17th 2010 12:53AM
Chalk one up for Sagem and Puma who apparently just want a cell to be fun -- and somehow, we're right there with them. The obviously-named Puma Phone launched today, and for a pretty basic handset, it was drawing some reasonably large crowds at the booth. That might be thanks to some of the silly stuff like a calculator that teases you when you try an operation it deems too trivial, a pet puma on the device called Dylan (who shows up on-screen when you leave your handset untouched for a while), and an audio player with a turntable you can actually scratch -- but the real draw is probably the solar panel around back. It's quoted at a respectable 15 minutes of talk time or two hours of music playback for every hour in the sun, meaning you should theoretically be able to charge the phone even while blasting tunes (of course, the proof is in the pudding when it comes to battery claims, as always). It's not going to replace your Pre, but the Puma set is definitely geared toward a youthful active market that focuses on sports and entertainment, and you've got to admit that it's driven by a brand everybody recognizes. Sure, it's simple; sure it is at its most basic a feature phone; but all that aside, we just liked the experience of using it. We're feeling that if the companies behind this thing align themselves with the right carrier when it launches in Europe this April, it'll actually do pretty well. No plans for it to land in North America yet, but we're told that if its launch goes well it could cross the pond later this year. Follow on for a full tour and gallery of the goods!
15 minutes of talk time for every hour of sunlight?
... Do you know how long I can talk on the phone for?
@CJisohsocool
People talk on their phones?
@CJisohsocool: I'm digging the rolling carpet to access the settings, and that turntable is pretty awesome. Seems to run a little sluggish, but it's just a demo unit, I suppose.
Nice phone. I like.
@CJisohsocool the Puma phone “will embrace both sport and style with features, functions, and design that reflect the DNA of the Puma brand and encourage usage of data and commerce services. Leaks: http://bit.ly/puma-phone-video-leaks
@Drybones5
really lol. seems like calling is the last thing people use their phones for these days.
@CJisohsocool
BTW they said 50 MINS OF TALKING
not 15
So 15 mins in the sun =
2 hours of music playback
or
butt load of text messages
or
50 mins of talk
@Drybones5
I'm an idiot
its 1 hour i the sun and its not 50 mins of talk
Puma...I think maybe I had a pair of their shoes in the 80's.
@psycros
Nice, lol
(I have some right now in the 10s)
I wish I could have seen the taunting calculator, sounds like an awesome touch.
@B3astofthe3ast
I had it in the original vid I did. Sadly the light was sobred in the booth I had to go back and try again and it was missed.
It just prints out messages if your additions are too easy and poles fun at you.
My puma is getting tanned ;-)
@ongadget haha :P As cool as this phone sounds... i would rather be repeatedly kicked in the nuts than having to give up my droid :)
@archive
I'm in need of a new phone...
May I do the honors of annihilating your balls?
@Drybones5 ughh well... *places cup inside pants* sure go ahead :P lol
@Drybones5 Ugh.. well... *places cup inside pants* sure go ahead! :P lol
This seems like a pretty cool approach.
They're not trying to be everything, or do everything, like most new smartphones, instead they got their own little freaky thing going on.
and that solar panel is pretty awesome.. too bad I live in Sweden where we get three days of sunshine per year..
@bricktop
hm.. actually, can you call this thing a smartphone?
phone in pocket = no sunlight
phone in hand = barely any sunlight
phone in sunlight = barely see screen
phone left in open to charge = no more phone
I smell fail.
@leetmeat Hello, Mr. Grumpers.
@Mitchell Rusk he has a pretty valid point. Places where I frequent to charge my phone... indoors, at my desk, in my car, etc? If it only gives you 15mins of charge time after an hour in the sun, where are you? Camping? We all know campers bring Puma branded cellphones to their tents.....
Cool phone otherwise.
@leetmeat I could see it being useful at the beach, where you could leave it on your blanket, and charge as you relax and drink a beer...
@leetmeat Im sure it will come with a arm strap for biking/walking
This phone rocks, amazing design and features
@leetmeat
Since this is targeted at active uses i can see them strapping it to their shoulders via an armband while jogging, walking, cycling etc.
However i get your point :-P
@leetmeat anyone who would buy this niche phone is probably a spend thrift who needs it to match there Ferrari. they'll probably have it charge on the dashboard while they're sniffing blow off a hookers ass
@leetmeat
In the video, while he was holding the device in his hand and playing some music, he said that he was using solar energy.
@leetmeat : Phone in Sweden during the winter, 30 minutes of sunlight each day.
@leetmeat
Phone next to me as a lay down/sit while relaxing and listening to some music.
For every hour of charging, two hours of music listening, so if I lay it down in the sun, listen to music for an hour, I end up with more juice in my phone than before I started listening music. I'm game :)
Waiting for the Cougar Phone.
@(Unverified) it'll make the puma come out of your pants ;)
Pew Pew Pewma
The concept sounds about right, and if Puma's your thing, this is a good deal I suppose. Not a fan of their shoes, but it is interesting that they're branching out into phones of all places. Cool.
My thing is that, why does every new hot phone that comes out they have to have pics of it next to the iPhone....that shit makes me mad!!!(tired of seeing iPhones)
@Kd21: Seriously, man. What is up with that?
@Kd21
Comparable ize.
Everyone knows how big an iPhone is.
How thick
How wide
How tall
How bezel-ed.
@Kd21 Because most of us either own, or have seen an iPhone in person. Therefore, we get a better sense of the size of the phones compared to an iPhone. Also, weather you like it or not, the iPhone is a great phone, and most of the current phones are modeled after it.
@Kd21
01010011 01110100 01100101 01110110 01100101 00100000 01001010 01101111 01100010 00100000 01101111 01110111 01101110 01110011 00100000 01000101 01101110 01100111 01100001 01100100 01100111 01100101 01110100
@paplay
copy and pasting into a binary translator is so yesterday..
@Kd21
I'm personally fed up of people who use the iPhone. "Have you seen this new app I've got? It Farts!" x30 times a day. Not to mention they never put the bastard things away, even when you try and talk to them.
Can't wait to see what Nike comes up with!
Red Hawtness!
Nothing specific to this phone, just a general question -- why do so many interesting new phones seem to come out in Europe or Asia before they hit U.S. (if ever), rather than launch simultaneously (or even debut in U.S.)? (I know there are big, recent, high-profile exceptions -- Droid, etc. -- not to mention Apple products.) Does it have to do with the (carrier-centered) U.S. retail model vs. how things are done in Europe (of which I know little or nothing)? Thx
@mpv Basically, because of the whole carrier-centered system the U.S. is a very weird and difficult market for European and Asian companies.
Red Hawtness!!!
What is the world coming to when clothing companies are making phones...
Nice! ...but I'm adidas fan boy... sorry....
Ehh looks like a palm with red neons nothing against the shoes though wait..yea don't like there shoes either :D
fred perry phone? >.>
Next up: The BMW phone :D