Sprint announces Android based eco-friendly Replenish smartphone

Sprint on Friday announced the latest addition to its Android lineup, the Samsung Replensih. Billed as an eco-friendly smartphone, the Replenish is constructed of recycled and recyclable materials. It will also be the first Android-powered smartphone from Sprint that will not require the company’s $10 premium monthly data charge since the carrier made the new fee a requirement. Spec highlights include Android 2.2 (Froyo), a 2.8-inch QVGA touchscreen display, a QWERTY keyboard and a 2-megapixel camera. The Samsung Replenish will launch online and in stores on May 8th for $49.99 with a two-year contract. Hit the jump for the full release.

Sprint Expands Environmental Commitment with Launch of Fourth Eco-Friendly Device; Samsung Replenish Packs Android and Sprint ID into $49.99 Smartphone

Sprint makes it easier than ever to go green without sacrificing technology by waiving $10 premium data charge on first green Android smartphone

SAN FRANCISCO and DALLAS – April 15, 2011 – Sprint (NYSE:S) today unveiled several progressive initiatives building on Sprint’s environmental leadership in the wireless industry, including upcoming availability of the stylish Samsung Replenish^™ from Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the United States.¹ Samsung Replenish, an Android touch QWERTY smartphone enabled with Sprint ID, will be available on May 8 at the affordable price of just $49.99 with a two-year service agreement and new-line activation or eligible upgrade.

Sprint is waiving the $10 monthly premium data add-on charge for Samsung Replenish to make it easier for customers to make eco-friendly buying decisions. In addition, the Earth-friendly² Samsung Restore^™, first available from Sprint in 2010, will be offered to Virgin Mobile USA customers without an annual contract beginning on April 18.

“We want to make it as simple as we can for our customers to go green with a robust selection of products and competitive pricing,” said Dan Hesse, Sprint CEO. “Samsung Replenish is as green as we could make it with more than 80 percent recyclable materials, housed in partially recycled plastics, energy efficient and built with fewer environmentally sensitive materials. As if this is not enough incentive, we are also lowering the monthly rate for this phone by $10 for new or existing customers so it pays for itself within just five months.”

With four eco-friendly phones launched to date, Sprint has made available the most green devices and accessories of any U.S. wireless carrier. Marking another U.S. first, an optional solar charging battery cover will be available for Samsung Replenish. The solar battery cover and an Eco-cover made from Naturacell³ will be available for purchase on May 8.

Earth-friendly yet Powerful

Samsung Replenish, Sprint and Samsung Mobile’s first eco-friendly² Android smartphone boasting access to more than 150,000 apps in Android Market™, is partially built with recycled plastics⁴ and recyclable packaging⁵ making it the ideal choice for the environmentally conscious consumer who needs the latest technology. The phone will also be enabled with Sprint ID, which lets customers personalize their device instantly with eco-friendly focused apps and mobile content.

“We are excited to expand our portfolio of eco-friendly devices to now include the Samsung Replenish with Sprint, Samsung’s first Android-powered eco-friendly phone, and the Samsung Restore with Virgin Mobile,” said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Telecommunications America. “Both the Replenish and Restore offer an impressive feature set with hardware made from recycled materials and eco-centric² packaging, giving customers the option to have an eco-friendly phone without having to compromise features and functionality.”

The stylish, full-featured Samsung Replenish includes:

• Touch QWERTY bar phone with 2.8-inch QVGA main display
• Android 2.2, Froyo, with access to more than 150,000 apps on the Android Market
• Special access to Sprint ID Pack, including Green ID pack
• Solar door charging accessory (sold separately)
• 2MP camera and camcorder – upload, share and store pictures with Photobucket, Facebook^®, MySpace^® and upload video to YouTube™
• Wi-Fi^® and GPS capable
• MicroSD card slot that supports up to a 32GB memory card
• Three color options – Onyx Black, Arctic Blue and Raspberry Pink (in June)

It has the following impressive eco-credentials:

• Reduced environmentally sensitive materials (RoHS compliant⁶, free of intentionally added polyvinyl chloride (PVC), brominated flame retardants (BFRs), phthalates and beryllium)
• Energy efficient, with a charger that meets the EC Code of Conduct on Energy Efficiency of External Power Supplies, Version 4, as well as a visual alert for full charge
• Casing includes 34.6 percent post-consumer recycled plastic content (the highest level in our eco-portfolio) and 82 percent of the device is made from recyclable materials
• Fully recyclable packaging that incorporates 80 percent post-consumer waste material and uses soy inks
• Includes a postage-paid envelope to recycle your old phone and promotes a virtual user guide available on the Sprint website – www.sprint.com

Samsung Replenish requires activation on one of Sprint’s Everything Data plans. The Everything Data plan with Any Mobile, Anytime^SM includes unlimited text, Web and calling to and from any mobile in America while on the Sprint network, starting at just $69.99 per month – a savings of $39.99 per month vs. Verizon’s comparable plan with unlimited talk, text and Web (pricing excludes surcharges and taxes).

As the first green² device from Virgin Mobile, Samsung Restore will cost just $79.99 (taxes and surcharges excluded) with no annual contract. Virgin Mobile offers Beyond Talk™ unlimited data plans starting at $25 per month.

Samsung Restore is a full-featured messaging whiz, offering access to Sprint’s 3G Network, a slide-out, four-row QWERTY keyboard, 2MP camera and camcorder, Stereo Bluetooth^® wireless technology and social networking shortcuts to Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. It boasts a 2.4-inch LCD screen with portrait and landscape orientation, built-in media player and easy navigation with Google Maps and Virgin Navigator. Samsung Restore meets Sprint Eco-Criteria, including reduced environmentally sensitive materials, energy efficiency and use of recycled materials.

Sprint also recently announced the availability of the newest Sprint ID pack, the Green ID pack. This ID pack offers Sprint customers using select Android devices, including Samsung Replenish, the opportunity to personalize their phone with an unmatched eco-focused Android experience that provides mobile content to live green, shop green, recycle and more.

Sprint’s new Green Sprint ID pack provides instant personalization in a single download with apps, widgets and mobile shortcuts on the user’s device, and it features apps from eco-conscious favorites such as TreeHugger.com, Earth911.com, Green America and the National Audubon Society. Starting today owners of select Sprint devices, including Samsung Transform™, Samsung Epic™ 4G* and Samsung Galaxy Tab™, can load the Green ID pack onto their device. Samsung Replenish will offer the Green ID pack when it launches on May 8. Like all other Sprint ID packs, the Green ID pack is free to download with Sprint’s Everything Data plan.

Leading in Sustainability

Sprint is committed to helping customers protect the environment. In addition to advancing its sustainable product goals, which include launching iconic “green” devices, Sprint is working to manage the environmental impacts of devices using a full life-cycle view, whether it be working with Underwriter’s Laboratory Environment to develop a global green phone standard or enhancing our industry-leading phone recycling efforts.

Earlier this month, Sprint and Samsung Mobile provided a $500,000 grant to the Green Education Foundation (GEF) to help launch their K12 “Sustainability Education Teaching Methods” professional development course. It was first made available during the National Association of Elementary School Principles (NAESP) 2011 annual convention and exposition in Tampa, Fla. With the grant, GEF was able to offer the course to each of the thousands of NAESP conference attendees to educate the next generation about environmental sustainability.

Sprint’s industry-leading role in corporate responsibility and environmental sustainability continues to receive recognition:

• For the second year in a row, Sprint ranked highest among all U.S. telecom companies on Newsweek’s 2010 Rankings of America’s Greenest Companies at No. 6, up from No. 15 in 2009.
• Sprint was ranked highest among the wireless carrier industry on the Carbon Disclosure Project’s “Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index.”
• Sprint recently received Frost & Sullivan’s 2010 North American Green Excellence of the Year Award in Mobile & Wireless for its demonstrated leadership and commitment to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, proactive approach to the deployment of renewable energy and aggressive cell-phone recycling efforts.
• In 2008, Sprint and Samsung partnered to launch the award-winning Samsung Reclaim™, the nation’s first feature-rich device made of corn-based bioplastic.
• Sprint’s take-back programs – Sprint Buyback and Sprint Project Connect^SM programs – help ensure that old or unused mobile devices are handled responsibly and kept out of the waste stream. More than 90 percent of the devices Sprint collected in 2010 were reused. Since 2001, Sprint’s wireless reuse and recycling take-back programs have kept more than 24 million wireless devices out of landfills.
• Since 2007, Sprint has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 9.5 percent.
• Wind power supplies more than 90 percent of the electricity needed to operate Sprint’s Overland Park, Kan., corporate headquarters.

Sprint’s sustainability website, www.sprint.com/green, details Sprint’s green mobile applications and helps customers learn about the company’s sustainability initiatives, including online bill pay, wireless recycling programs and acquiring green tips, such as using mobile GPS to calculate the quickest route to save gas. To learn more about Sprint programs that protect the environment, go to www.sprint.com/responsibility or follow @SprintGreenNews on Twitter.

The Samsung Mobile Take Back Program™ allows consumers to send in their cell phones to be properly disposed of free of charge.

Samsung Mobile supports Samsung’s overall Eco-Management 2013 Plan announced in July 2009. The plan details a comprehensive set of sustainability goals to be achieved by Samsung in 2013, which include the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from manufacturing and product, the development of eco-friendly product, financial investment in eco-management initiatives, and enhanced green partnerships with suppliers and partners. To find out more information on the Samsung Recycling Direct and Samsung Mobile Take-Back Program please visit, www.samsung.com/recyclingdirect.