Nokia launches phone which can be charged by a bicycle

By | 4 June, 2010

Nokia has heard. Maybe it did earlier but it was waiting to launch. In an answer to Micromax’s deluge of dual SIM mobile phones Nokia has launched its dual SIM mobile. Four models will be launched in a C series. Models C1 and C2 will be dual SIM phones. C1 is a basic phone and C2 will have Internet, FM and music. Both will have a really long and cool battery life of six weeks. C1-01 and C1-02 are not dual SIM but will have a camera, Internet and access to Nokia’s Ovi store. A flashlight is a standard feature on all these phones. All the four models are priced below 2000 Indian rupees or $45 USD.

C1 and C2 will take care of a very new and growing niche segment of dual SIM phones. What Nokia also came up with is a bicycle charger for mobile phones. The charger for these phones can be connected to to a bicycle’s dynamo which will be charged when the wheel turns. The speed has to be between 5-50kph.

The bike kit has a charger, dynamo and a holder to secure the phone to the bicycle. The dynamo — a small electrical generator uses the movement of the wheels to charge the handset through a standard 2mm charging jack used in most Nokia handsets. (Source)

Nokia ceded some market share to upstarts like Micromax in the month of February 2010 and March 2010. The main reason for it is the lack of a dual SIM phone. With these C-series phones Nokia had packed three punches which would knock out any competition. What will the competitors do now?

A lot of innovations are coming up in the mobile charging space. A new scooty is launched with an onboard mobile charger. Two students from Ahmedabad have designed a helmet which can use the sun and wind and can charge a mobile phone in 40 minutes. Those two solutions are near green solutions. But a bicycle charger is the most green solution of it all.

A dual SIM phone which costs less than 2000 rupees, runs for six weeks without charge and can be charged by pedaling a cycle – Nokia couldn’t have done any better. Waiting consumers couldn’t have asked for more. These C-series phones has all one needs and nothing one doesn’t need. That is for the target audience, of course.



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