Waterproof, Solar Powered Cell Phone ( Technology )

Japan's Waterproof, Solar Powered Cell Phone

This phone begs to be taken to the beach

• One of the most distressing things (at least for those of us who need to be connected at all times) is having a cell phone battery die without a charger or power source nearby.

• Japanese mobile carrier KDDI and Sharp plan to roll out a cell phone this summer that will be able to charge the battery using solar energy.

• According to the press release, 10 minutes in the light will grant the user one minute of talk time or two hours of standby. Using just solar energy, the phone can be charged up to 80 percent of full battery capacity.

• The phone, set to release this summer, is also waterproof. Sounds like something the passengers of Oceanic 815 could really appreciate… if there were cell phone towers on mysterious disappearing islands, that is.