Digicel Coral 200 Solar

Expected June 2009  
19th February 2009

The Digicel Coral 200 Solar is a solar powered phone, which may well be the first such device to reach the market.

Digicel are a major network in the Caribbean and in Central America, and the Coral 200 Solar is manufactured by ZTE with solar technology from Intivation of the Netherlands.

Based on the existing low cost Coral 200 phone, the Solar version should also offer good value for money when it launches.

This is a basic colour phone with a 1.5" display that appears to be 128 x 128 pixels, it has dual band GSM support, space for 300 phonebook entries and predictive text messaging. The large add-on solar panel / battery makes the Solar a lot thicker than the original, measuring something in the region of 104 x 45 x 19mm.

Slated for a June launch date in "selected markets", the Digicel Coral 200 Solar may well be the first solar powered phone in the world to market, beating the Commtiva Sola (also with an Intivation solar cell) and the Samsung Blue Earth.

Despite the very basic specification and rather chunky looks, the Digicel Coral 200 Solar looks like a very practical device for people with limited access to an electrical supply, and quite apart from anything else the solar-powered concept is rather cool!