Puma makes sporty mobile phone

by Darius Chang |


BARCELONA--It seems everyone wants a piece of the mobile phone business as we spotted Puma showcasing its first phone at the Mobile World Congress tradeshow. Known for its sports apparel, Puma designed the phone in collaboration with Sagem Wireless which outsourced the manufacture to Flextronics (a company that also makes handsets for Motorola and Microsoft).

We were quite surprised the Puma phone was not simply an entry-level mobile banking on its brand name to make big bucks. Running on a Java-based operating system, the device has a built-in pedometer for running and GPS for tracking biking trips. Though it does not have Wi-Fi, it is HSDPA-capable with Bluetooth. What really sets this handset apart is the integrated solar panel around the back.




Using the solar panel to charge, 1 hour of sunlight is said to provide 15 minutes of talktime or 2 hours of music playback. A small icon above the panel shows when the environment is bright enough for juicing up. If you're using the phone out in the sun, you can essentially run this Puma mobile indefinitely without draining the battery.

Puma phone specifications
  • Quad-band with HSDPA
  • 2.8-inch 240 x 320-pixel touchscreen
  • 3.2-megapixel camera with LED flash; front-facing VGA camera
  • Bluetooth and GPS
  • Accelerometer and pedometer
  • microSD card slot
  • 880mAh battery


    • The Puma phone will retail in Europe from April and Asia in Q4 2010. The price without operator subsidy is at the moment fixed at 420 euros.

    Update: We have included information on Sagem Wireless and its role in the Puma phone.
    Darius Chang
    About the author

    Tracking laptop and PC trends since 2005, Darius Chang may have been knee deep in bits and bytes but is certainly not a binary person. Under that big and soft exterior holds a marshmallow core which dotes on his god-daughters and nephew. Suspected of ADD, his interests span disparate fields such as sustainability studies, diving, sports, politics, etc. A true jack of all trades, but master of one (maybe two).

    Darius Chang, Senior Writer

    Latest comments

    sporty n gr8 toooooooooooooo?????????????

    Posted by NASIR94
    Reply

    Add in wireless, rubberized shock-proof chassis, and this could be a hit for runners, bikers, trekkers and the like.

    Posted by Fil
    Reply

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