Expensive designer phones

Most expensive designer phonesFrom the stables of the world's leading cellphone manufacturers, these phone's have gone under the hammer of some of the biggest designers of the world.

Dazzling both in features and looks, these phones are aimed at those who want to make a style statement (and of course one's with deep pockets). So, here's over to some of the recent launches in this posh category.
 
Apple iPhone
 
Apple iPhoneClaimed to be the most expensive phone in the world, this 3G iPhone has been designed by Austrian jeweler Peter Aloisson using solid 18-carat gold and 6.6 carat diamond. This latest model dethrones Goldvish Le million costing $1.3 million which till now held the title of world's most expensive phone.

The phone is made up of solid 18 carat yellow gold, white gold and rose gold with the white gold line encrusted with a total of 138 brilliant cut diamonds. iPhone 3G King's Button replaces the iPhone's standard plastic home button with a rare 6.6 carat diamond. The estimated value for the King Button is $2,517,345. The phone packs same features as present in the 3G iPhone.
Vertu Signature series
 
Vertu Signature seriesNokia's luxury arm, Vertu, recently launched its new Signature collection in India to celebrate its tenth anniversary this year.

Known for high-end, hand crafted mobile phones, the new collection comes in three variants -- stainless steel, hallmarked white gold and yellow gold.

The phones sport a patented keypad which contains 4.75 carats of solid ruby bearings. The phone's SIM drawer comes engraved with a unique Vertu pattern and battery cover release is operated by D-ring.

Hand-built in England, Vertu's new collection features a QVGA OLED display of 320x240 pixels, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, email support, 3G and VoIP.

The gold or platinum Signature phones are authenticated by a Swiss Assay Office hallmark -- the only electronic product to carry this stamp.

The Vertu's scratch-free collection takes more than two weeks to form in a 2000 C furnace. The sounds produced by Signature are taken from a piece of music composed for Vertu by the Academy Award winner Dario Maranelli.

Vertu Signature in stainless steel costs Rs 6,46,000, yellow gold comes for Rs 1,767,000 and the white gold phone is available for Rs 1,971,000.
 
LG Prada 2
 
LG Prada 2LG Electronics and Prada have rolled out their much-awaited successor to the Prada Phone, LG KF900.

The second-generation LG KF900 offers a host of technical upgrades over its predecessor. New features include a minimalist exterior, a set of keys that slide out and an improved user interface with LG's latest active flash UI technology and haptic feedback on touch input.

Other key features include large touchscreen, 3G capability with HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps, 5 megapixel camera featuring slow motion video recording and DivX playback, Wi-Fi, full HTML browser, and video calling capabilities.

The new Prada also packs Prada ring tones, wallpapers and video clips. The phone also features 'Prada Link' (LG-LBA-T950), a Bluetooth device that can remotely monitor phone calls as well as read full SMS text messages without having to extract the phone from a bag or pocket.

The phone sells for 600 Euros in Europe (around $775 in US currency), and requires a two-year service contract.
 
Samsung-Armani
 
Samsung-ArmaniKorean giant Samsung has unveiled a luxury phone, Emporio Armani Night, designed by fashion stylist Giorgio Armani.

For style conscious audience, Samsung Armani M7500 comes with flashy set of LEDs that are embedded into the sides of the handset. Earlier Samsung Armani had launched P520.

The phone's features include quad-band GSM support, HSDPA, 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, Bluetooth with A2DP, microSD card support and an integrated FM radio.

The candybar M7500 has a 2.2-inch OLED display and is 12mm thin. It comes with brushed-metal casing.
 
Samsung F480 Hugo Boss
 
Samsung F480 Hugo BossGermany-based fashion company recently teamed up with Samsung to launch special Hugo Boss edition of the fully touch-operated F480 Tocco.

The phone bears a Hugo Boss logo at the front and also features Hugo Boss themes, and a set of special ring tones.

Also called Samsung Tocco, it sports a 2.8-inch touchscreen QVGA display, and has a 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, audio and video player, FM radio and Bluetooth. The phone is a tri-band with HSDPA and 3G support.

The Samsung Hugo Boss cellphone is priced at approximately $620.
 
Porsche P'9522
 
Porsche P'9522Porsche is out with its new mobile phone P'9522, successor to its famous P'9521 flip-phone.

P'9522 is milled from a single solid aluminum block and a single sheet of scratchproof glass. Like the popular iPhone and Blackberry Storm, Porsche P'9522 too features a 2.8 inch touchscreen with 400 x 240 pixels for navigation.

Other features include a GPS receiver for programming directions, 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash, Wi-Fi, MP3 player, and Quad band cell phone service, FM radio, 2GB memory card, talk time of up to 240 minutes and stand by time of up to 300 hours.

It is priced at approximately $774, about half the price of P'9521.
 
Motorola Aura
 
Motorola Aura Beleaguered cellphone maker Motorola has launched a hand-sculpted mobile phone 'Aura' costing Rs 1,11,000.

The phone is Motorola's latest high-tier mobile device targeted at the trend-setters. Aura features hand-sculpted richness, stainless steel housing and will also be available in sundry textures and patterns.

Motorola claims 'Aura' is the world's first mobile phone with 16 million colour and 300 dpi resolutions. Aura sports 2GB on-board memory, and works on networks including the GSM 850, GSM 900, GSM 1800, GSM 1900 and EDGE Class 12 and GPRS Class 12.

The phone's battery offers up to 7.3 hours of talk time plus 400 hours of standby time. Other key features include Stereo Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR and AD2P, 2 megapixel camera with fixed focus, USB 2.0 hi-speed for connectivity and Symphony browser.

Also, phone has Motorola's proprietary CrystalTalk technology that lets users get rid of unwanted noises while speaking.
Source:Indiatimes Infotech

Sony Satio and Toshiba TG01 - Smartphone Features

Sony Satio
 
Sony SatioSony Ericsson's 12.1 megapixel camera phone boasts of a 600 megahertz processor which helps it support high-end camera and multimedia features. The phone packs Symbian Series 60 operating system.

Sporting a 3.5-inch TFT touchscreen display, Satio comes with an MP3 player, stereo FM radio, geo-tagging, video recording and playback and A-GPS support.

Camera features include Xenon flash , up to 12x digital zoom, auto focus, face detection and image stabiliser.
 
 
Toshiba TG01
 
Toshiba TG01  Powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon platform, the phone packs 1 gigahertz CPU making it one of the most powerful smartphone in the world.

Sporting a 4.1-inch TFT touchscreen display, the phone features a 3.2 megapixel camera with resolution of 2048x1536. Other features include A-GPS, Bluetooth v2.0 with A2DP, videocalling and MP3/MP4 player. Source:The Times of India Infotech
 
 

Samsung Jet and Samsung Omnia HD - Smart and Powerful Phones

Samsung Jet
 
Samsung JetSamsung Jet boasts of 800 megahertz processor which promises faster Web browsing and improved video playback. Sporting a 3.1-inch AMOLED display, the phone packs 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash.

Among other key features, the phone offers Geo-tagging, Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording, A-GPS support, videocall camera and 3.5 mm audio jack.
 
Samsung Omnia HD
 
Samsung Omnia HDIt is the first phone with 720P high definition (HD) video recording on mobile. Samsung claims that Omnia HD is the world's first full-touch handset with an AMOLED screen size of largest 9.4 cm (3.7-inch). The phone's 600 megahertz processor promises faster images and multimedia features.

The phone packs an 8 megapixel camera. Among other key features, Omnia HD packs an Accelerometer and Proximity sensor operations, support for HD TV via DLNA technology, Samsung's DNSe Sound engine, 3D games support, GPS with A-GPS support and Route 66 GPS app on-board, 3G with HSUPA and HSDPA support, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0. source:The times of India Infotech
 
 

Samsung Jet and Samsung Omnia HD - Smart and Powerful Phones

Samsung Jet
 
Samsung JetSamsung Jet boasts of 800 megahertz processor which promises faster Web browsing and improved video playback. Sporting a 3.1-inch AMOLED display, the phone packs 5 megapixel camera with autofocus and LED flash.

Among other key features, the phone offers Geo-tagging, Stereo FM radio with RDS, FM recording, A-GPS support, videocall camera and 3.5 mm audio jack.
 
Samsung Omnia HD
 
Samsung Omnia HDIt is the first phone with 720P high definition (HD) video recording on mobile. Samsung claims that Omnia HD is the world's first full-touch handset with an AMOLED screen size of largest 9.4 cm (3.7-inch). The phone's 600 megahertz processor promises faster images and multimedia features.

The phone packs an 8 megapixel camera. Among other key features, Omnia HD packs an Accelerometer and Proximity sensor operations, support for HD TV via DLNA technology, Samsung's DNSe Sound engine, 3D games support, GPS with A-GPS support and Route 66 GPS app on-board, 3G with HSUPA and HSDPA support, EDGE/GPRS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with A2DP and USB 2.0. source:The times of India Infotech
 
 

Smartphones Palm Pre and Samsung 360 H1

Palm Pre
Palm PrePalm's flagship model Pre comes with Texas Instruments' 600 megahertz OMAP 3 platform. The company's latest smartphone Pixi too sports OMAP 3 architecture.

Featuring a tiny QWERTY keypad, the phone scores high points on messaging feature. From within one application, users can exchange texts with phone contacts and swap instant messages with friends who use either AOL instant messenger or Google Talk.

Pre has a 3 megapixel camera that lets users take photos in horizontal or landscape mode. The phone also boasts of strong multi-tasking features with the ability to have different applications open at the same time. Pre also supports copy-and-paste feature.
 
Samsung 360 H1
Samsung 360 H1Samsung 360 H1 for operator Vodafone supports Vodafone 360, the company's internet service. The phone packs 600 megahertz processor which helps the device keep up with the constant stream of information.

Featuring a 3.5-inch AMOLED screen, the phone has a 5 megapixel camera, HSDPA, Wi-Fi and 16GB built-in memory. Camera features include auto focus, LED flash, digital zoom and additional camera for video calls.

Other key features include FM Radio, A-GPS, 3.5mm headphone jack and voice recording. Source:The Times of India Infotech.
 

Per-second call rates for Mobiles

GENEVA: Indian telecom operators may soon be asked to compulsorily give their customers the option of paying tariff based on usage per second inst
ead of the current per minute pulse, sector regulator Trai said on Monday.

"We may ask all the operators to consider per-second pulse as a mandatory tariff option along with their other tariff plans," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman J S Sarma told reporters on the sidelines of the International Telecommunication Union conference here.

He said Trai may soon come out with a consultation paper on the subject and invite suggesstions about making it mandatory for operators to provide customers with this option. "Even there (in per-second tariff plan), they must ensure to bring out clearly all the riders and caveats," Sarma noted . The Trai chief further said that since the current regulations allow the operators to decide the tariffs on their own, "I cannot say whether the time has come to reconsider this particular
clause."

Last week, BSNL introduced one paise per second pulse (for local calls) and two paise per second pulse (for STD) in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa.

Tata Teleservices broke away from the norm by offering users per second pulse on its GSM network — a development the company attributed to its becoming the top operator. Another operator , Aircel also extended its pay-per second calling plan from Kolkata and Orissa to UP last week. Source

Most powerful smartphones HTC Imagio and iPhone 3G S

HTC Imagio
HTC Imagio
 
HTC's multimedia smatphone Imagio boasts of Qualcomm's 528 megahertz processors, making it among the Most powerful smartphones.

Featuring a 5 megapixel camera with auto-focus, Imagio runs on Windows Mobile 6.5 version. Sporting a 3.6-inch touchscreen display, the phone offers 3G connectivity, GPS navigation and Wi-Fi support.
 
iPhone 3G S
 
iPhone 3G S
iPhone 3G S can perform tasks up to 3.6 times faster than the previous second-generation model. Apple claims that everything users do on iPhone 3G S is up to 2x faster and more responsive than ever.

The phone's processor runs at 600 megahertz, compared to 412 megahertz in previous models and packs 256MB of RAM, up from 128MB before.

The new phone now packs an improved 3 megapixel camera with video capturing, auto-focus mechanism and editing capabilities. iPhone 3G S also packs a built-in digital compass that help users locate their way. The new Compass app automatically reorients maps to match the direction. Apple iPhone 3.0 also offers multimedia messaging capability with the new 3.0 software allowing users to send each other photographs from the phone. Source:The Times of India Infotech
 

Most powerful smartphones Asus P565 and BlackBerry Bold

What are the things that most of us look for while buying that powerful smartphone? Camera, touchscreen resolution, memory, battery and accessories. But are they all that make a smartphpone powerful?

Not really, it is the smartphone's processor too that counts. A processor is said to be a smartphone's backbone, promising faster download, web browsing and multimedia features.
 
Asus P565
 
Asus P565Asus P565 is the world's fastest phone, claims Taiwanese phone maker Asus. The candybar smartphone P565 features has a 800MHz processor, 2.8-inch touchscreen display which comes with the company's 'Glide' touch-responsive interface.

Weighing 120gms (with battery), Asus P565 comes pre-loaded with SatGuide maps for over 200 cities and 1.5 million destinations in the country. It has a 3 megapixel camera for photos, and a secondary camera for video telephony.

Operating on a Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional platform, the business PDA phone comes with 256MB memory, 128MB DDR SDRAM, and a MicroSD card slot for further expansion.
 
BlackBerry Bold
 
BlackBerry BoldBlackBerry Bold measures 114mm x 66mm x 15mm and features a full-QWERTY keyboard.

Bold is also claimed to be the fastest BlackBerry on the market with 128MB RAM and 624 MHz processor. The phone packs 1GB on-board storage memory and has support for microSD/SDHC memory card slot for memory expansion of up to 16GB.

The phone features a host of multimedia capabilities including a 2 megapixel camera with video recording and an advanced media player for music, pictures and multiple format videos. The phone comes with a 3.5 mm jack, dedicated volume controls and dual speakers. It also supports video streaming.

Bold also has built-in GPS feature with BlackBerry Maps and support for location-based applications and services. Source:The Times of India Infotech.