Now that's a phone. The $2,000 Motorola Aura is here, and lookalikes are bound to follow.
The Aura has the world's first circular display with 16 million colors and a 300 dpi resolution. The lens isn't just scratch resistant, it's Grade 1 62-carat sapphire crystal. The casing is stainless steel, coated with PVD coating (like on a luxury watch), and it rotates open with the help of 130 precision ball bearings.
All the usual technologies (2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, Open Source browser) are included in this sleek, attractive 47.60 x 96.87 x 18.55mm phone.
Blackberries are for assistants.
Just in time for the holidays, you can order one now to be shipped out December 4th.
It used to be that having a mobile phone was a fairly expensive treat but oh how things have changed. In a strange twist it now seems that owning a landline has become the true luxury.
A recent Nielsen survey found that not only have 17% of homes already gone landline-less but that number is predicted to jump to a full 1/5 of the population (20%) by the end of the year.
So what's causing this trend? Finances, for most. It's a cold hard fact that for most people cell phones are cheaper to own and operate than landlines, all factors considered, and in today's ever-tightening economy luxuries like home phone service are getting cut out. Who would have thought, expensive and fancy as cell phones are getting these days, that the real status symbol would become the clunky home phone?
Armani and Samsung have released their latest joint effort cell phone. The Samsung Armani 2 Night Effect gets its name from the wraparound LED light on the phone. The candybar-style phone has a 3.2 megapixel camera, FM radio, 120MB of memory that is expandable with microSD, and Bluetooth. It will be sold in Europe in November with sales in Southeast Asia and the Middle East to follow. It will sell for around 300 euros. Tech pundits don't seem to be loving this one, finding the Armani logo on the back a bit garish and the overall look to be a bit clunky.
I'm not generally a big fan of diamond-encrusted cell phones but I think the iPhone lends itself to the idea better than others because it's so sleek and has such a limited area where diamonds can be placed. Claiming to be the world's first real diamond-studded iPhone, the Apple iPhone 3G by Swiss jeweler Knalihs Athem is made with 475 brilliant cut diamonds totaling 3.75 carats. Only 50 iPhone 3G handsets will be created on a made-to-order basis, with the first 10 units being sold at the special price of $10,000. iPhones 11-50 will be priced "sharply upwards."
I'm not sure what that translates to exactly but it sounds like if you want one you better move fast.
Polo Ralph Lauren will soon be offering American shoppers the ability to shop for goods via mobile phone. The technology itself is only about a year away (something about integrating codes for download) but the company expects Americans to warm up to the idea only very slowly after that. Although foreign consumers like the Japanese have been using similar technology for years, Americans are thought to be a little less comfortable with cutting edge shopping methods.
Do you think that's really the problem? Couldn't it be that we just have too much fun shopping to reduce the whole experience down to a tiny cellphone screen?
Hm, maybe that's just me. If you're interested look for the service to appear soon on a cell phone screen near you.
While you are waiting for your new diamond-covered iPhone you might want to consider this sparkly gadget. Swiss luxury designer and jeweler Knalihs Athem has recently created a diamond encrusted Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte. This phone is decorated with 1000 finest quality brilliant cut diamonds that weigh 6.75 carats in total. There will only be 20 handsets made and each will be accompanied by a official diamond grading report from a gemological lab. It can also be personalized with your name or whatever you would like. The Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte by Knalihs Athem has a starting price of $20,000.
Christian Dior has branched out into the mobile/cellular phone universe with the "My Dior" phone, by ModeLabs. It took three years to develop the clamshell, which will be available in two versions: a $5,000 basic version and a $26,000 luxury version, which features a 2.6 touch screen with an integrated media player and is decorated with 640 stones of 3,251 carats of Swarovski crystals imprinted on a crocodile skin case. Ringtones are proposed to be Dior's voice as well as music. Look for marketing to begin this month. This phone is just beautiful, but I'd be terrified of dropping or losing it!
Here's a Bluetooth earpiece that manages to be quite fancy looking without having any Swarovski crystal or gold plated "bling." The Plantronics Discovery 925 has a unisex VFrame™ design and is available in 3 jewel tone colors (black, gold, and pink) with a cute color-coordinated leather carrying case and charger included. According to this review the features are pretty average, with the exception of excellent audio quality thanks to AudioIQ noise control technology. The Black Onyx version is available now, with the Alchemy Gold and Cerise Pink shipping next month. $149.00
The regular Jawbone blue-tooth headsets were pretty cool, but apparently creator Yves Behar didn't think they were the best he could do -- and it seems they weren't. Now available (in theory anyway, they're really hard to find) is an extremely limited edition collection of 3 Love to Talk Jawbone headsets called "Sweet Talk," "Dirty Talk," and "Trash Talk." Each headset is a different color (gold, black, and white respectively) with a theme appropriate design etched into the surface. Which one would you get? And what on earth is etched onto the "Sweet Talk" headpiece? Is that a flower?
Gallery: "Love to Talk" Limited Edition Jawbone Headsets
Softbank Mobile is in the process of launching their new line of 15 cell phones, one of which was created in collaboration with Tiffany & Co. Japan Inc. The new handset is encrusted with more than 400 diamonds totaling 20+ carats and will cost about $94,000. For that kind of money I hope it looks better in person than in any of the pictures I've been able to find!
The phone is available starting this month in Japan, with the complete line of new phones to be launched by the end of March.
Oooooooh, aaaaaaaah. Let the admirers stare and envy you as you not only whip out your new iPhone to answer a call or check your email, but as you whip out your new black iPhone. It's the ccPhone, and it's not only an iPhone modified to be a cool matte black color, but it also comes with a selection of new music, videos, screen art, and even an exclusive address book program.
If you want one you're going to have to get right on it though, as the ccPhone is available in a limited edition of just 50. Preorder only and will ship on November 15th. $2000
If the iPhone isn't on your holiday list maybe the new Motorola RAZR2 V8 Luxury Edition will catch your eye. The phone has 18K gold-plated accents with a black metal finish, a soft-touch back with a snakeskin look and details such as pin stripes, an engraved diamond-cut pattern on the sideband and a linear etching on the navigation wheel. The phone includes the Opera mobile browser, a 2.0 megapixel camera with 8x digital zoom that also provides up to 2 hours of video capture and playback, 2Gb of storage for up to 1,000 songs, and a large external screen so you can manage music and read texts without opening the flip. it also comes with a matching black Motorola H680 Bluetooth headset with 18k gold-plated accents.
In case just having an iPhone isn't good enough of a statement for you, soon you'll be able to have an iPhone plated in 24 carat gold. I'm not going to say it looks bad, because it doesn't (it is an iPhone, after all!), but I will say the concept is a little over the top and a bit ridiculous -- especially once people realize it is in fact real gold.
There's not much space to put the gold on an iPhone so not sure if the price (which is still TBA) will reflect that or not. Just don't add any diamonds anywhere, please (although I'm sure that's next...).
The latest in blinged out cellphones is the Diamond Nokia N95, and there's no argument that it's 'doing the bling thing' in a big way. Coming from Alexander Amosu, the phone is a combination of 18k solid gold and 3.30 carats of high-quality diamonds. Available in a limited edition of only 10, each phone is custom set with 325 diamonds and the owner's choice of white gold or classic gold (white gold for me all the way), and of course each will be numbered from 1-10. Name or initials also available, $24,482.
It's a busy few weeks for cellphone watchers as everyone wants to create the next phone that makes all the cool kids go crazy the way the iPhone has. Born Rich reports that Porsche Design is working on the shiny new gadget shown above. The P9521 cell phone is created from a block of aluminum and has a scratch-resistant screen which rotates 180 degrees, a three-megapixel camera, a fingerprint reader and a MP3 player. This baby will set you back way more than the iPhone, it is expected to sell fo $1600.
Another hot cellphone story is that Samsung is reportedly working with Armani to create a phone. The Armani phone is said to have "exclusive content" and undoubtedly minimalist design to die for.
