Now, here’s a third, designed exclusively for the avid cellphone user: A new application primarily cuts down on battery usage and thereby contributes to a greener society.

The Green Phone (GP) application from MobiMonster has made it to the final round of an annual global innovation contest conducted by Nokia (see box). The company’s 31-year-old CEO, Ankur Srivastava, is one of the two Indians among the 11 finalists.

So what is the application and how does it help keep the world green?

The biggest contribution to carbon footprint is made by burning electric power. So anytime we use an electrical application — and that includes using mobile phone and charging it — we are contributing to the carbon content of the environment. The GP application, Srivastava says, is the first eco-friendly application for cellphones that can curb the amount of electricity a phone uses. It also increases the life of your phone battery and charger.

The application, in fact, can reduce upto 2 kgs of carbon emission per year per handset. Used in over 10 lakh handsets, this can translate into mass savings of 900 tonnes of carbon dioxide emission per year and 500 MW of power generation savings.

So how does the application achieve this power saving?

The first and foremost is the system to switch off the phone’s backlight. Currently, the shortest duration for which the backlight is on is 5 seconds. The application cuts it down to one second.

Then there’s the process of internal alert to power consumption modules so you can remove the charger or close unwanted services. This application will even detect when Bluetooth or WLAN — heavy users of the battery — are not in use and switch them off.

Another beauty of the GP application — friendly to Windows Mobile and Series 60 devices — is that it does not require third party tools like SMS, MMS, WAP, GPS, GPRS or network access. To enhance its wallet-friendly appeal, the alerts sent from the device itself at no additional cost. “The team at MobiMonster is ecstatic that their efforts and hard work has been recognised and that they have a chance to bring a small change in the world,” says Srivastava.

And what if they do not make it to the first two slots?

The announcements are to be made tomorrow, but even Nokia thinks that this one device that definitely needs to reach the people. “The applications that have made it to the final lap will be adequately marketed, so they get the right exposure,” said Prakash Sayini, in-charge Forum Nokia, India.

The event
“Calling All Innovators” is a global mobile application development competition held by Nokia. This year, there were around 12,000 participants.

Categories
* Eco-Challenge: Applicants were asked to work on minimising mobility’s global environmental impact.

* Emerging Markets: Applications will impact the daily lives of millions in developing nations.

* Technology Showcase: Highlights compelling applications for individuals or communities focused on the end-user experience.

The other Indian in this year’s finals
* Santosh Ostwal of Pune-based Ossian Agro Automation: one of the three finalists in the Emerging market category. Ostwal’s application, Nano Ganesh, allows farmers in the country to remotely access their irrigation pumps, eliminating the need to travel long distances in inclement weather to check the power and turn on or off the pumps.