Samsung announces the solar-powered Crest Solar E1107

By common definition, the new Samsung Crest Solar is about as far from a smartphone as you can get – but if you’re going somewhere where electric outlets are scarce, it’s probably a smart idea to carry one.

Available later this month in India, Europe, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and Latin America, the Crest Solar will be Samsung’s first solar-powered cell phone to reach the market. For every hour of rays this guy catches, it walks away with 5-10 minutes of talk time.


Beyond being the first Samsung to come packed with solar-panels, it seems they’re also using it as a testing ground for a few things on the software end. “Mobile Tracker” sends out an alert when the SIM in the phone has been swapped and “sends out an SOS message in an emergency” (though we’re not quite sure what that entails), while “Fake Call” lets you get out of that blind-date-gone-wrong without hurting any feelings. A few other features are also sneaking in on a locational basis, such as a bicyclist-friendly profile which blocks calls outside of those important enough to answer while riding, or a prayer-reminder alert system. No word yet on pricing.