KDDI (au) - Water-Resistant, Solar-Powered Handset

via Gizmodo by John Herrman on 4/20/09

Manufactured for KDDI (au) by Sharp, this outdoorsy phone should show up in Japan by June. Unlike the unrealistic claims made by other solar phone dabblers like Samsung, KDDI's ambitions here are modest, but practical.

KDDI has taken a pragmatic approach to the solar phone, integrating a waterproof panel onto what sounds like a very low-draw device. They claim that 10 minutes of sun absorption should grant two hours of standby, or a minute or so of talk time—an extreme ratio that suggests that battery life—not a huge feature list—is the main priority here.

The solar panel alone is enough to charge the battery to a respectable 80%, but KDDI doesn't mention how long that might take. Price and global availability are TBD. [KDDI via Impress]