Blue Earth: For the eco-minded

MANILA, Philippines - Samsung making their eco-friendly phone blue when the pro-environment stand is usually associated with green will hardly deter the ecologically conscious from appreciating the Blue Earth. You don’t judge this phone by its color anyway; plus, a green phone would just be too cliché.

This stone-shaped, bright blue wonder is made of recycled water bottles and is free of BFRs, PVC and phtalate, materials that are all harmful to the environment. The retail box it comes in is also made of recycled materials. The Blue Earth, expectedly, is also solar-powered, made possible by a sun-loving panel attached to the back of the phone.

Getting a look into its features reveal more tree hugging partialities. An ‘eco mode’ feature automatically adjusts the screen brightness and backlight duration to more energy-efficient settings, while a built-in feature called ‘eco-walk’, something like a pro-earth pedometer, counts how much trees you save when you walk instead of burning gas. (Do a dual-tasker by charging your phone while walking.) An eco-calendar also alerts to important environmental anniversaries — the Blue Earth will tell you that Earth Day falls on the 22nd of April.

Just because saving the earth is such an important serious issue, it doesn’t mean that Blue Earth leaves off the fun completely. The phone has entertainment value as much as it does social. It has a decent 3.2 megapixel camera and a video recorder that are equipped with applications that can connect directly to social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace and Flickr, making for easier file sharing. Samsung’s Blue Earth also has a music player with a Find Music feature, where you can listen to favorite tunes and discover new ones. Go and download “Blowin’ in the Wind” now.

The Blue Earth mobile phone it’s available in other Asia countries.