Just last week we brought you news of the Blue-Earth, Samsung’s new solar powered touch phone. Well, it turns out that they are not the only company with solar dreams. Chinese mobile manufacturer ZTE recently revealed the Coral-200, a solar-powered handset with one very unique characteristic that sets it apart from its competitor: it will only cost 40 dollars!

Using technology from Dutch-based innovation, ZTE have created a relatively basic solar phone that promises to bring mobile phones to all those that do not have access to regular power. The slick solar phone provides about 15 minutes of talk time for every hour of sunlight, and will be available at a pretty incredible price point.

ZTE is hoping to leverage the Coral-200’s low cost to distribute this phone to the 2 billion people that do not have regular access to the grid. To do so, they have partnered with Digicel, a network provider that works in emerging markets and already provides solar powered chargers in some countries. The phone officialy launches in June.

source: http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/02/25/coral-200-solar-powered-phone-by-zte/