Nokia unwraps Remade eco mobile 'made from nothing new'

Following hot on the green heels of its Eco Sensor phone last December, Nokia yesterday unveiled a phone made from recycled materials.

The Remade concept phone has a case made from recycled aluminium cans, old plastic bottles and car tyres for the rubber keys. Nokia boss Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo showed the phone off yesterday at the Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona.

The Finns' design was created to see if it was possible to make a phone "from nothing new", though the chipset and electronics inside clearly wouldn't be made from old tin cans. On the plus side, it is designed with energy saving in mind. The engineers behind it claim to have designed a way of cutting the power used to back-light the screen, which is usually responsible for over half a phone's battery use.

We've seen plenty of mock-ups for eco phones in the past, including the University of Warwick's rather lovely one with a biodegradable case and a sunflower seed that would grow into a flower when composted. Last year the Science Museum even showcased phones with circuit boards made from lasagne sheets. But this is all hot air for now -- it'd be nice to actually see some of these green mobiles on sale in shops.

Sadly, this phone's just a prototype too, with Kallasvuo admitting in his speech, "I cannot make a phone call [on it]". While Nokia gets round to crafting a real Remade, check out the photos below and this product video.

Nokia Remade, the rear view: