It was a coincidence that I had to shop for a new cell phone on Earth Day. But buying  the Samsung Reclaim from Sprint seemed like a good way of marking the occasion. Sprint says that the Reclaim is “both eco-friendly and…feature-rich.”

Reclaim’s hardware is made from bio-plastic materials extracted from corn, making 80 percent of the phone recyclable. Reclaim’s eco-friendly features extends to its packaging and support materials, which include a link to an online user manual in lieu of a print version, use of soy-based ink on enclosed printed materials, a phone box and phone tray made from recycled materials, and an Energy-Star approved phone charger.

In honor of its green-ness, the Reclaim is available in a “Earth Green,” but the color is too bright for my tastes. I opted for “Graphite Grey,” which, in light of the recent news, looks rather like volcanic ash. On the whole, it’s a nice-looking gadget.

The Reclaim is considerably lighter and thinner than my old Treo. Its screen is bright and clear, and it seems to be pretty sturdy. I’ve dropped it a couple of times with no adverse effects. The covers for the slots for the charger plug and the MicroSD card seem awfully flimsy, though, and I suspect they may break easily.

I prefer full keyboards with vertical layouts as on the Treo, Palm Pre, and many BlackBerry phones. Keyboards that slide out sideways don’t work too well for me, since I’m left-handed, and the navigation keys are invariably on the right side of the keyboard. The Reclaim’s keyboard is well laid out, but the keys themselves are flat, close together, and not easy to type on.

Incoming sound quality is very good; one person said I sounded a bit “electronic,” but otherwise, outgoing voice quality seems to be fine. Signal strength has been excellent, even in places with marginal reception.

The volume of the ringer, earpiece, and speakerphone can be set quite loud, which I appreciate. I haven’t had the phone long enough to really test its battery life, but Sprint claims 6 hours of talk time. I also haven’t tried some of its other features, including a 2-megapixel camera, voice recognition and stereo Bluetooth.

The software isn’t bad, as long as you know what you’re getting. The Reclaim comes with Sprint’s “One Click” interface and basic productivity apps, including a mail app, a web browser, a calendar and an address book. It also has apps for social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and YouTube. The screen fonts on the Facebook app are so tiny I can’t read wall posts, even with my glasses on — I guess Sprint figured that oldsters like me wouldn’t be using Facebook.

Sprint claims that this phone can download 60,000 free applications through the “Digital Lounge,” which is the Sprint-branded version of the GetJar app store. I did find some free apps, but most of the useful apps I looked at carried monthly fees of $3-10. And the quality of apps is variable. The free version of Google Maps is almost illegible on the Reclaim’s screen, and didn’t pick up where I was, even after enabling GPS.

So compared to the one-time purchase costs that are common on the iPhone/iPod touch and Android platforms, apps for the Reclaim can get expensive very quickly. Sprint even charges a monthly fee for their service to back up one’s contact list — and it’s not even full sync. For me, this is the biggest limitation of the Reclaim’s software: its inability to sync address book and calendar data. (There are some third-party solutions that claim to be able to do this, but I have no idea if they work.)

Sprint is continuing its green efforts and has just announced the Restore, another eco-friendly phone, which is scheduled for availability this summer. Meanwhile, Sprint is offering the Samsung Reclaim online at no charge after rebates and with a two-year contract, which is a good deal. But for web workers who are used to smartphones like the iPhone, Treo, Pre, BlackBerry or Android-based phones, the Reclaim has limited functionality. If all you need is a phone that can make calls, send texts and do some light web browsing, it might work for you.

If you find the Reclaim’s green tech credentials appealing, you should check out our Green:Net conference, which takes place on April 29 in San Francisco — there are still a few tickets left.

Do you think you could get by without your smartphone?

Related GigaOM Pro content (sub. req.): Cleantech Market Overview, Q1 2010

You probably already have a wireless router in your home or office that connects to a cable or DSL Internet connection and broadcasts a signal that can be received wirelessly by laptops and Wi-Fi-enabled mobile devices like the iPod touch. The Overdrive hotspot works the same way, but instead of using a wired connection, it sends and receives Internet signals through Sprint’s high-speed 3G and 4G data networks. It’s similar to the Verizon MiFi, although it can connect with faster 4G speeds and is slightly bulkier.

The hardware looks very simple. It’s a 3-1/4″ square box with rounded corners, about 5/8″ deep, and weighing around 5 ounces. It’s small enough to fit in a trouser or jacket pocket, and although it gets slightly warm while in use, it never seems to get uncomfortably hot.

The hotspot comes with an AC adapter for charging, some simple instructions, and not much else. There’s a surprisingly-bright display about 1-1/4″ square, where data is displayed, including the Wi-Fi network name — it defaults to something like “Overdrive-321″, but both the network name and password can be changed. The network password is displayed on the screen, too, although that can be turned off for additional security. The screen also displays data about signal strength, whether one is connected via 3G or 4G, the hotspot’s battery level, and the amount of bandwidth one has used during the current session.

Since the Overdrive only has one “power” button, all configuration changes must be done via a web-based control panel. In the web interface, one can change the administrative password, the password needed to log into the Wi-Fi network it creates, and the type of security used (including several variants of WEP, WPA-Personal, and WPA2-Personal). One can also change the WAN settings to specify whether the hotspot will connect to Sprint’s data network via 3G only, 4G only, 3G preferred or 4G preferred. With that last setting, the hotspot will fall back to a 3G connection if 4G is not available, although switching between networks can take several seconds.

The Overdrive’s web-based control panel worked with all of the browsers I tried, including Mobile Safari on my iPod touch. That’s useful, since it allows one to change the hotspot’s settings without firing up a laptop. Annoyingly, however, changing the hotspot’s default settings requires rebooting the device, which can take 20-30 seconds.

At my home office in a residential neighborhood in Seattle, I got a 4G connection that the Overdrive’s control panel listed as “Good (40%).” According to speedtest.net, my download speed varied between 1.2 and 1.7 Mb/s, and upload speed ranged between 0.6 and 0.8 Mb/s. While this is significantly slower than the cable connection I usually use (and is also slower than the CLEAR 4G modem I reviewed a couple of weeks ago), I was able to connect to a remote computer using Hamachi and do basic work with minimal delays. I also tested the device while on the go: I was able to use the hotspot successfully on an Amtrak train between Seattle and Bellingham, Wash., although I found it best to set the hotspot to “3G only” mode.

Sprint says that one can connect up to five devices simultaneously to the Overdrive hotspot. I only tried two — a laptop running Windows 7, and an iPod touch. Both worked well. Sprint claims that the device broadcasts a Wi-Fi signal for up to 150 feet, which I didn’t test, but I was able to connect easily in the next room.

I got about 3-4 hours from a charge, and the hotspot is usable while it’s plugged in. Sprint says that the Overdrive has a standby time of about 36 hours.

I didn’t test the device’s built-in GPS, but that’s only operational only on the 3G network. I also didn’t test the MicroSD slot can be set up as a “network drive,” of up to 16 GB.

As of this writing, Sprint’s 4G coverage is still quite limited: it’s offered in cities in 11 states. Sprint is selling the Overdrive 3G/4G Mobile Hotspot for $99 with a two-year contract. Sprint’s data plans start at $59.99 per month, which includes “unlimited” 4G bandwidth (with the usual disclaimers), plus 5GB per month of 3G usage, and up to 300MB roaming usage.

If you’re in a Sprint 4G area and don’t want to wait for the upcoming 4G EVO phone, or like the idea of using Sprint’s 4G network to connect the devices you already have via Wi-Fi, the Overdrive 3G/4G hotspot may be for you.

If you use an Overdrive hotspot, let us know how you get on with it.

Related GigaOM Pro content (sub. req.): 4G: State of the Union

There’s nothing particularly fancy inside, but it is all functional and each piece fits its required role perfectly.

The Bag

Like Simon, I’m a big fan of the backpack. I’ve had a Targus Sport for going on five years now and it is holding up quite well. Easy to sling over my shoulder, well padded for the laptop and filled with miscellaneous pockets for all sorts of supplemental stuff. Padded shoulder straps make it a comfortable carry even on a long walk.

The Laptop

My current laptop is an IBM ThinkPad R50e, which I’ve had for a few years. I prefer a 15-inch screen for a good mix between portability and usability. I’ve bumped up the RAM to the 2GB maximum, but otherwise it still works quite well for everything I can throw at it.

I’m a big fan of the ThinkPad line of laptops in general. In my experience, they have proven to be very reliable and offer a lot of functionality at a good value. I imagine my next laptop will also be a ThinkPad.

A lot of people tell me I should go Mac, I say I’ll consider it when I can get one with a TrackPoint , as I honestly can’t imagine my primary machine not having one (yes, I’m “the guy who likes the TrackPoint,” mock away…) My current model doesn’t even have a touchpad, which is ideal for me.

I do have an extra battery I bring along for long trips and a power brick that is easily accessible.

The Connection

For connectivity, I use the Sprint Mobile Broadband service in conjunction with a Novatel S620 card. The coverage here in my area is excellent and the speed is good enough to avoid any frustration. It’s nice to not have to worry about finding hotspots and just knowing that I can connect anywhere. I wish I could avoid the monthly fee but on more than one occasion it has proven to be indispensable.

The Phone

I just recently moved into the smartphone era with the purchase of a Samsung BlackJackII . In addition to phone calls, it also works quite well for handling my other data needs. It syncs beautifully via IMAP with Gmail, my calendar is kept up to date with the help of GooSync, and Tiny Twitter keeps me connected to my friends there. I don’t do much browsing on it but I do recommend the upgrade to Opera Mobile, which I prefer over IE Mobile. My phone was cheap through AT&T and has proven to be a good mobile companion.

I have a Bluetooth headset but I find it so horribly uncomfortable that except when I’m obligated by law to use it (like when driving in Chicago) I tend to forgo it. The lack of a good headset tends to keep me off of the phone while driving, which is probably a good thing anyway.

The Camera

I’m not much of a shutterbug, I guess. I take the miscellaneous photo with my phone or for “heavy duty” needs I’ll borrow the Nikon E3100 from my wife.

The Tunes

To keep myself sane in a noisy environment or to grab myself some entertainment, I use a set of either Shure E2C or E3C sound isolating earphones which do an amazing job at both. They have been discontinued, but the SE210 appears to be the logical replacement. Honestly, you can’t go wrong with them.

I also have an ancient MPIO FL100 MP3 player which continues to serve me well for the limited times I need it.

The Extras

I also keep handy various power bricks and adapters to keep things charged. I’ve got a USB key with PortableApps on it which can let me be productive on someone else’s machine if necessary, and there are always a couple of blank CDs handy as well.

The Non-Tech

I take advantage of the multiple pockets in my backpack to carry along the basics like notebook, pens, tissues, mints, hand sanitizer and I usually try to remember to bring along a book for “offline” time.

That’s what I carry. What’s in your bag?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• A 2011 Green IT Forecast
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Additionally, US cellular service providers over the last few months have been rolling out “unlimited plans” that offer an unlimited bucket of minutes for one flat monthly rate.  In most cases, $99 a month will give you unlimited chatters a way to talk all you want.  Sprint’s plan is very attractive because it includes unlimited voice, data, and SMS.

However, T-Mobile put a new spin on the unlimited plan by offering an unlimited family plan.  For example, if you have a $99 T-Mobile unlimited plan, you can add additional lines for just $49/month that will include unmetered national voice minutes, SMS, MMS, and instant messaging.

Small business owners may not know this, but this “Family” plan is not only usable by those who share genetic bonds.  This is applicable to small business because for about $250 (not including taxes), you can have unlimited wireless minutes to run your business with.  This type of value makes the offering very competitive and could be comparable to Internet telephony (VoIP) offerings.  However, the beauty of this T-Mobile unlimited family plan is that you have access to your minutes no matter where your cell phone happens to be.

For more information about the new plans, see T-Mobile’s website.

Would you consider running your small business on cell phones?  What tradoffs can you think of?

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• In Q3, the Tablet and 4G Were the Big Stories
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Cricket Wireless

If you’re lucky enough to live in one of these areas and you want to get a high-speed EVDO modem, you can get the service for a minimal $35/month. A comparable service plan on Verizon/Sprint is $60/month.

This is a great deal for tight-pocketed web workers who need on-the-go access to the Internet.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

• A 2011 Green IT Forecast
• Green IT’s Q4 Winners: Wind Power, Solar Power, Smart Energy
• Mobile Q4: All Eyes Were on Android, 4G and the Rising Tablet Tide