Expensive designer phones

From 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

 

Claimed 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

 

Nokia'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 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

 

Korean 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

 

Germany-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 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

 

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