Micromax to launch solar powered phone next week

Amazon's Kindle is not the only device to be powered by sunlight. Micromax has reportedly announced plans to launch a mobile phone in India next week that will include a solar panel that will give it additional battery life. The Mobile Indian reported that 3 hours of charging by the solar panel would enable an extra 1.5 hours of talktime.[caption id="attachment_267258" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Micromax mobile products"][/caption]The report quoted co-founder and executive director of Micromax, Rahul Sharma, as saying, "We have been at the forefront of innovation. We were the first to launch long battery life phones, dual SIM phones and many more. Our next innovation is to get rid of the mobile phone charger by including a solar panel in our next phone. This solar charger will top up the charge in 3 hours to support 1.5 hours of talkative."The phone will however be a 'feature' phone and not a smartphone.Reports of the newest addition to the Micromax range comes hot on the heels of the launch of its much talked about Android powered Funbook tablet that is available for just Rs 6,499 in India.