In the newsIntivation Gives Boost to Solar-Powered Phones

03 Jun 2010


Our newest partner Umeox has recently announced their first product using Intivation technology, the V206 ruggedized solar phone. We're very please with this device, which brings embedded solar technology to a new segment in the mobile phone market.

Coinciding with this announcement, the story was picked up by VentureBeat and the New York Times:

Chinese mobile phone manufacturer Umeox just introduced one of its latest models, the V206, with little fanfare at the MEDPI tradeshow in Monaco. But the V206 is no ordinary phone; it’s a low-cost, ruggedized and waterproof handset powered entirely by sunlight.

 The V206 is just one of a new generation of low cost, solar-powered phones that use technology from Dutch company Intivation. Intivation’s SunBoost chip makes it practical and cost-effective to charge small devices like mobile phones via the sun.

While the trend for mobile phones in developed countries is towards more expensive and power-hungry handsets, 1.6 billion people in the developing world don’t have access to a regular electricity supply. Not only is the electricity grid in many emerging markets unreliable, it’s also expensive, with consumers spending 15-20% of their incomes on it. If there is no local power, phone owners have to walk to the nearest town or pay inflated prices to a mobile charging vendor to charge their phone. According to Intivation, allowing customers to charge their phones from the sun boosts ARPU (revenue per customer) by 10-15% in semi-rural areas

 

For the full article click here.

This article was published in the NewYork Times on June 2, 2010.