SINGAPORE -- Users wanting a more eco-friendly cellular phone experience can now pick from a range of Sony Ericsson phone models that sport environmentally friendly features. 

In a global announcement made in Singapore last week, the company unveiled the Cedar phone, the latest in its line of eco-friendly phone models under their “Greenheart” brand.

Priced at around P6,000, Cedar is the most affordable phone in Sony Ericsson's Greenheart line.

It boasts of a sleek casing and keypad made from recycled plastic and waterborne paint, and is equipped with 3G and Bluetooth connectivity, a 2.2-inch colored screen and a 2-megapixel camera.

The said mobile phone will be on sale starting next month.

The Greenphones. (Top to bottom) Cedar, Aspen, Elm (left) and Hazel (right). Credit: Kristine Servando, Newsbreak

"Consumers are really interested to actually make a 'green choice' when they buy products," Steve Walker, head of global product marketing, said in an interview.

Like other Greenheart phones, Cedar is paired with a "green charger" that automatically switches to slow charging when the phone battery is full so consumers save on electricity. It also comes in compact packaging, with e-manuals rather than paper manuals, to reduce waste and freight costs.

"We've chosen to talk a bit more publicly about the sustainable things we've been doing," Walker said.

Other Greenheart phones in the market include Elm (P10,000), a compact handheld phone; Hazel (P12,000), which is much like the Elm but comes with a sliding screen; and Aspen (P15,000), which has features similar to a smartphone.

Both Elm and Hazel have noise reduction capabilities to ensure clear sound in the busiest environments.

'Green choice'

On top of Sony Ericsson's release of eco-friendly phones is the effort to collect 1 million used units by next year under their take-back program.

With these, the company is expecting to cut down on carbon emissions by 20% -- and the carbon impact of its phones by 15% -- by 2015.

"In the end, it's not about the cost. It's about making an environmental impact," Walker said.

Marketing manager Patrick Larraga, based in Manila, said Greenheart phones like Elm and Ash have been "selling well" in the Philippines ever since they were released a few months ago.

For his part, Asia Pacific vice president for marketing Peter Ang said Asians are starting to warm up to environment-friendly phones.

"In Europe, these phones are generally well-placed. Asia is just now picking up on it," Ang said.

Smartphone, walkman phone

Aside from Cedar, company executives also announced the release of 2 other "competitively priced" phone models next month.

The first is the X8, a more affordable smartphone model under the Xperia line.

Yendo. This new offering from Sony Ericsson comes in 10 colors. Credit: Kristine Servando, Newsbreak

Priced at around P15,000, it is equipped with a 3.2-megapixel camera, social networking capability, full-color touch screen and the user-friendly Android operating system.

Other phones in the Xperia range, which cost around P29,000, include the X10, X10 mini and the X10 mini pro, which is said to be the world's smallest Android phone.

The other mobile phone slated for release next month is the Yendo, Sony Ericsson's first full-touch Walkman phone. Priced at around P9,000, it has a 4-corner user interface on its 2.6-inch display and comes with the Touch Walkman player.

Geared toward younger audiences and lower-end market segments, Yendo comes in 10 bright colors from apple green to a luminous aqua.