Luxury cell phones are not a new thing anymore, but they keep on appearing to satisfy the fashion needs of those who have larger bank accounts. SoftBank, a leading Japanese mobile carrier,
partnered with Tiffany Japan to bring such a phone, that will be sold for 10 million Japanese Yens, meaning about $93,600. It cannot compete against the world’s most expensive phone, Goldvish Le Million, which costs more than 1 million USD, but it’s still a terribly expensive device.

The handset comes encrusted in no less than 400 diamonds, totaling a bit over 20 carats, and will be available starting this month, most probably before Valentine’s Day, to make an extravagant gift.

There aren’t many technical details about the Tiffany handset, except the fact that it’s a 3G device. However, judging by the specs the other SoftBank phones announced for 2008 have, this diamonded clamshell might pack a good photo camera and even Mobile TV features.

The real manufacturer of the phone is unknown for the moment, but it sure isn’t Tiffany, known mainly for being one of the most respectable US jewelry brands. It’s hard to believe they have a secret cell phone division, so it is more likely that they only worked on the handset’s luxurious cover. Most probably, as the phone seems to be a clamshell resembling the majority of the phones released in Japan (except the diamonds, of course), the non-jewelry part was created by a Japanese producer. So it could be a Sharp, Toshiba, NEC, Fujitsu, Panasonic, Sanyo or Hitachi. Hard to tell.

The new Tiffany phone is available only from SoftBank starting February, as a limited number edition, so the Japanese men who want to offer their lovers a flower and hundreds of diamonds on a phone should quickly pay a visit to their bank for a small withdrawal.

Popularity: 82% [?]

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This is 1.43 million bucks-worth of telephone. It is hideous. Made by Swiss company Goldvish, the Le Million (what a name, just reeks of (cl)ass, doncha think?) comes in a choice of red, yellow or white gold. Tastefully studded with diamonds and what looks like crocodile skin (although surely croc is far too prosaic for such a phone, perhaps skin from something found in a freezer in Roswell might be more keeping with the exclusiveness of this—this thing) it’s not available for just any old pleb, you know.

Just three units are available—yes, you too could be one of the top three plonkers in the world should you choose to become one in Le Million club. Anyway, they’re on sale in Russia now, so perhaps Vladimir Putin, with the Man of the Year’s fortune recently estimated by some to be as much as $40 billion, would like to snap up all three, gifting one to Hu, one to Bush, and keeping the red one for himself.

via gizmodo

Popularity: 16% [?]

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Russia held a millionaire fair recently, where all the recently minted oil executives got to do a nice bit of conspicuous consuming in front of the world’s media.

We weren’t invited, what with the show’s target audience of “consumers of the high-end luxury segment, VIP’s, the political, administrative, business and cultural elite.”

The prize buy at the show was that disgustingly gaudy thing pictured there - a $1.2m mobile phone, which is a customised Vertu if we’re not very much mistaken. It comes with a free Bentley to drive it around in, plus it’s covered in those shiny things are that girls refer to as “diamonds” and “gold.”

No tech specs were handed out about the phone’s capabilities, which is a bit of a disgrace - imagine spending loads of money on a much-hyped new mobile phone only to discover it’s not 3G…

via Gizmodo

Popularity: 10% [?]

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More and more people have cell phones—-in fact, we depend on them in times of emergency. But what happens when your cell phone breaks? Oftentimes, we drop them in puddles or on the ground, and it’s back to the store for a new wireless.

Those may be times of the old, however. The new Gz One phone by Casio is touted by manufacturers to be indestructible. The folks at Verizon Wireless on Two Notch Road in Columbia lent News 19 a spare phone to put to the test.

“You can drop it off a building, throw it down, drop it in water. The battery does come off. You can pop it back in and it will work golden for you,” said Sarah Gornto, manager at Verizon Wireless.

The phone is popular with construction crews. It is slimmer than a Motorola Razr, but thicker. The lightweight model comes equipped with all the latest technology, like GPS, camera phone, and wireless internet.

Built to military specifications, it is said to be water-resistant, dust proof and shock resistant, so News 19’s Jennifer Lindgren and photojournalist Mike Remia put it to the test.

We ran over it with our news truck, dropped it in the Five Points fountain, and had a college student throw it as hard as possible.

After all of the abuse, the battery fell off, and the plastic began to crack, but the phone still worked with a clear signal.

The final test ended up breaking the phone: we dropped the device off the top story of Williams-Brice Stadium. It hit the ground and the keys stopped working at that point.

All in all, the phone withstood any normal pressure a user would put on it. It almost endured all the extremes we tested.

The Gz One impressed college student Drew Duckett, who helped us test it out.

“It’s sturdy. I mean if I threw my phone on the ground, I don’t think it would work at all. Thirty different pieces. It’s pretty cool. It’s say it’s worth buying,” Drew said.

Casio’s Gz One

The cell phone underwater

The phone takes a beating

via wltx.com

Popularity: 43% [?]

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ASUS has introduced a GPS-communicator P750, which started as a rumor in July. The new device is positioned as a business solution meant for corporate users, who need a mobile device with GPS-functionality. The P750 can work in 3G networks and has all the specs of an up-to-date communicator. The device is peculiar for Ur Time function – time in different cities and town on the Today screen. Besides there is an integrated camera, which helps recognizing business cards.

The specs of ASUS P750:

• Networks - GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 MHz, UMTS 2100 MHz (HSDPA 3.6 Mbps)
• OS - Windows Mobile 6 Professional
• CPU - Marvell PXA270M 520 MHz
• Display – 2.6” touchscreen, 240×320 pixels, 65K colors
• 256 MB flash-ROM, 64 MB SDRAM
• MicroSD-slot (SDHC)
• Built-in GPS-receiver on SiRF III
• J2ME (CLDC 1.1 + MIDP2.0)
• 3-megapixel camera with auto focus
• Frontal VGA-camera
• Audio - MP3, WMA, AAC, AAC+, 3GP
• Video - MPEG4, H.263
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, USB 1.1, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR
• Li-Ion 1300 mAh
• Talk time – up to 6 hours
• Standby time – up to 240 hours
• Dimensions – 113×58x17.4 mm
• Weight - 130 g

via mobile-review

Popularity: 15% [?]

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Hop-on has announced a new mobile phone HOP1883. The device comes with an integrated GPS-receiver, a QVGA-display and a 2-megapixel camera. HOP1883 will come out in Europe, South and North America. There is the multi-lingual support – English, Portuguese, French and German.
The specs of HOP1883:

• GSM/GPRS class 10 (900/1800 MHz)
• OS - RTOS
• Display – 2.8” 240×320 pixels, 262K colors
• 128 MB ROM, 32 MB SDRAM
• microSD slot
• GPS-receiver (SiRF Star III)
• WAP 1.2
• Bluetooth 2.0, USB 2.0
• 2-megapixel camera
• Standby time – up to 500 hours
• Talk time – up to 8 hours
• Dimensions – 117×58x19 mm
• Weight - 130 g
• Colors – Black, Silver

via pdasnews

Popularity: 8% [?]

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Mobile phone provider 3 has launched a new handset that will allow users to make free calls over the internet via telephony service Skype. Users will also be able to use Skype’s instant messaging service, 3 said. But while people using Skype on their computers are able to make cheap global calls to any phone number, this will not be possible via the new 3 handset. Skype has about 246 million registered users worldwide and is one of the firms reshaping the global phone industry.
To date, mobile phone companies have been unwilling to let users freely access Skype via their handsets for fear that it would hurt their business. While it is possible to access Skype from a number of handsets, this has involved downloading third-party software, something that has put off the majority of users.

The Skype-phone will be the first instance of a phone operator launching a mass market device that is designed to allow free calling over the internet from a mobile, 3 said. “It takes an innovative operator… to challenge traditional thinking and offer the kind of product other operators are still shying away from,” said Skype’s acting chief executive, Michael van Swaaij. “It’s is now truly mobile. Skype has now taken a giant step forward in the mobile arena. And chief executive of 3 UK, Kevin Russell, said the firm wanted to make mobile internet more accessible. “Services need to be simple to access and affordable,” he said. “Mobile has the potential to massively increase access to internet calling.”

The service, launching on 2 November, will be accessed by a button on the handset. As well as the UK, the 3 Skype-phone will be launched in countries including Australia, Denmark, Italy and Hong Kong. Pay as you go customers will have to top up their account with at least 10P each month to qualify for the free Skype-to-Skype calls, 3 said.

via pdasnews

Popularity: 11% [?]

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