Samsung to launch eco-conscious 'Reclaim' for Sprint Nextel users
07 Aug 2009
Though the evolution of the now ubiquitous mobile phone has largely run the course towards greater sophistication packing in a slew of fun features, Sprint and Samsung are now taking a green turn with an $50 'eco-conscious' phone.
The green phone comes in a casing of biodegradable plastic and is appropriately named Reclaim.
Though not exactly the first green phone as there have been predecessors like the Motorola Renew carried by T-Mobile USA, the Reclaim could be said to be full-scale version unlike its forerunners which were mainly barebones devices.
The Samsung Reclaim features a slide-out standard-layout keyboard, e-mail and web access, a camera and GPS navigation and will be on sale from 16 August.
Samsung says the phone's biodegradable plastic made partly from corn and is free of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), phthalates and nearly free of brominated flame retardants (BFR) – three materials that harm the environment.
Sprint Nextel Corp's director of product marketing, David Owens says the company is paying more than the usual amount of subsidies to Samsung to bring the price down to $50 for customers signing two-year contracts.