'Puma Phone' Powered by the Sun

Dan Hope, TechNewsDaily Staff Writer

20 February 2010 04:34 PM ET

Shoe and sportswear manufacturer Puma has teamed up with Sagem, a little known phone manufacturer, to create a solar-powered phone aimed at sports-minded individuals.

The most unusual feature of the "Puma Phone" is clearly visible on its backside: a solar panel that can be used to charge the phone without a cord.

Sagem has included a function that tells you how many minutes of talk time you have and how many text messages you can send from the solar charge built up. Puma takes it a step further by creating an exchange program that allows users to trade in minutes of solar power for Puma merchandise.

This touchscreen phone isn't as fully featured as a smartphone , but it definitely has some great features for sporty people or media addicts .

Sliding the homescreen to the left reveals fitness programs, including GPS-based running and biking trackers, a pedometer, compass, stopwatch and an RSS feed for sports news.

Sliding the homescreen to the right leads to basic media apps, including a music player, messaging and email service, camera and social apps for Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and YouTube.

Despite its unexpected origins, the Puma Phone has garnered surprisingly good reviews from people who have handled it. The Puma Phone is currently only headed to Europe in April, but a worldwide release is expected sometime after that. Pricing details are also coming later.