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Intivation intros Umeox Apollo smartphone: $100, solar-powered, Android 2.2 (hands-on)
Rugged? Check. Built-in flashlight? Nod. Solar panel on the rear? Yep. Android 2.2? For sure. All of the essentials (and then a few extras) have been tossed onto the Umeox Apollo smartphone, shown off for the first time today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It's hardly a high-end device -- in fact, at just $100 off-contract, it's bound to be one of the less-capable Froyo handsets on the market. But considering that this is positioned to put Android into the hands of those who aren't exactly champing at the bit to spend a month's wages on a phone, we'd say it's a huge step in the right direction. When asking about specifications, we were told to expect a MediaTek processor, microSD card slot, rear-facing camera and a SIM card slot. The unit on display was a non-working mockup, with an on-site representative noting that shipments should begin to Europe, Latin America and India this May (with other nations to follow). The device felt satisfactorily solid, but unfortunately, no technical details were available regarding the solar panel on the rear. In related news, the company was also showcasing a couple of other innovations: a new solar cell microchip and its first solar cell. Prior to this week, Intivation only sold the microprocessors, forcing partners to go and find their own panel supplier. Now, it's entering another business with the Sunboost3 all-in-one solar module, and if it's hopes and dreams come true, you'll start seeing these on a slew of upcoming handsets. Hit the PDFs below for more of the nitty-gritty, and peek the Apollo mockup in the gallery below. %Gallery-116589%
ZTE and OKWAP team with Intivation to deliver next generation solar devices
Let's be honest, we'd scorch the Earth to eke just one more hour of power from our superphones. Fortunately, as residents of the western world we've got plenty of juice to power all of our gadgets. Still, we can definitely see the attraction of a solar-powered cellphone meant for the peoples of developing nations living off the grid. Throw in a flashlight and you've just changed somebody's life. That's what we've got in the ZTE S316, a dead simple candybar with color display and torch. Also announced is the S101 charger with its own built-in flashlight that can be used to charge select, non-solar devices and costs just $12 to $13, maybe less on volume. The third solar device comes from China's OKWAP and is built by Inventec. The $40 GS109 (pictured above) feature phone is destined, believe it or not, to be an object of ultimate desire when slung from the neck on a lanyard as proof of ones prosperity. Spec-wise, this dual-SIM solar-powered phone packs a video camera, color display, microSD slot, MP3 player, and even Bluetooth 2.1 -- a lot of features for a solar phone. Linking the three devices is Intivations SunBoost solar conversion technology allowing the devices to charge in conditions less than ideal. The ZTE S316, for example, draws a max of about 113mA when on a call, while the solar cell pumps out about 50mA to 60mA of juice depending upon the natural lighting conditions (it even charges when cloudy). That's about two minutes of natural light exposure required for every minute of talk time to keep the device going. The solar cell on the GS109, meanwhile, produces about 70mA in direct sunlight to keep the device humming. Remember, the idea isn't to charge a phone from 0% to full but to keep a device continually charged at about 70% to 80%. Intivation is so confident in its tech that it claims to provide "a far better charging experience than anything else on the market today." Both the S316 and S101 charger will be available in April while the relatively swank GS109 will hit next month. See them all in the gallery below. %Gallery-85611%
XPAL's Solar Egg charges to 90% in four hours of mild sunlight
Unlike many solar devices that require an abundance of intense sunlight to be useful, XPAL's new Solar Egg does its thing even in "medium levels of natural light." The magic SunBoost solar conversion technology is supplied by a company called Intivation from The Netherlands, a country that's not exactly know for its tropical weather. XPAL claims that the internal 500mAh battery can be charged at over 90% capacity in just four hours of average sunlight exposure and can detect a "wide range of devices" like MP3 players and digital cameras to provide the appropriate level of power for charging. It'll ship next month to select regions -- where that is we can only guess for now.
