Solar Powered Smart Phones

In the near future, smartphones that don’t need wall plugging may be available. All you need to do is expose its screen to direct sunlight, and poof! Your battery instantly gets charged.
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This technology is what scientists from the Michigan State University is trying to develop. The researchers have invented an almost transparent solar power collector that they believe can be the future of powering smartphones.

The system is called luminescent solar collecting materials, or simply LSC. It is an inexpensive thin plastic sheet that can absorb light and re-emit it in the form of energy. They are currently found in infrastructures where windows are covered by the colored versions. Currently, the color in these LSCs gives them a higher efficiency in converting solar power to reusable energy.

One of the researchers, Richard Lunt, had admitted that the transparent LSCs have a poor 1% in its solar conversion efficiency ratio. But they are still trying to upgrade its material for it to be more applicable to industrial uses.

Karbonn launches A1plus Super A5 Turbo entry-level smartphones

Indian mobile device maker, Karbonn, has launched two new entry-level Android smartphones - A1+ Super and A5 Turbo.

The A1+ Super is priced at Rs 3,490 while the A5 Turbo will sell at Rs 3,290.

Karbonn A1+ Super sports a 3.5-inch HVGA(320x480p) display and is powered by a 1.3GHz dual-core processor. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat and features an external storage slot that supports microSD cards up to 32GB capacity. The phone sports a 3MP rear camera with LED flash and a front camera (unspecified resolution). The company has not revealed the RAM and internal storage capacity for the handset.

Karbonn A5 Turbo also sports a 3.5-inch HVGA(320x480p) display and is powered by a 1GHz processor. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat, and is 3G-enabled. The phone sports a 3MP camera and a front-facing camera, and features dual sim support, and a microSD card slot. The company has not revealed the RAM and internal storage capacity, even for this handset.

The two phones come with Wi-Fi support, Bluetooth, Edge, G-sensor, and proximity sensor and customizable menu and widgets options.

Commenting on the launch, Shashin Devsare, executive director of Karbonn, said, "Today, an estimated 117 million subscribers are using smartphones in India, which with an expected 45% increase over the next 2 years is placed to increase to nearly 240 million consumers. With consumer-centric activities being the fulcrum of operations at Karbonn, we understand the varied needs of consumers, and thus seek to capture this upcoming market with a range of smartphones that understand their focused needs."

"Today, a large segment of consumer is shifting from feature phones to smartphones and looks for a smartphone with advanced technology and maximum features at affordable prices. While this growth of the smartphone market is basis the greater availability of affordable devices and quality after sales services by the vendors, we also seek to capture the majority of this nascent market via a remarkable product range, that offers affordability and stylishness to the consumers, providing them a unique and never-seen-before mobile experience," he added.