Premium mobile maker Vertu launches first clamshell phone

Vertu isn’t a name that the average Joe carries around on his cell phone. In fact, it isn’t a name that some of the richer Joes carry around. The mobile phone is the premium of premium phones; the Rolls Royce of the handset industry. And for the first time in its illustrious history, the company has rolled out a flip-phone: the Constellation Ayxta.

It’s a bit surprising that Vertu has taken so long to come out with a clamshell phone, especially given the style points such handsets have. But it looks like the company has taken its time to come out with a model that’s so perfect, it’s hard not to be amazed.

As with all Vertu models, the Constellation Ayxta comes with a stainless steel chassis with aluminium detailing, as well as leather and ceramic accents. The trademark crystal sapphire screen is intact, with a 1.3-inch external display (128x160 pixels) and a 2.4-inch internal display (320x480 pixels).

The new device comes with a 3-megapixel camera with LED Flash, a microSD slot for cards up to 8GB, 3G connectivity and GPS.

But the real sellers are the two Vertu services it comes with. As with all its phones, the Constellation Ayxta avails the user of the Vertu Concierge – a button to contact a 24-hour concierge service, which connects the user to a "lifestyle manager" who can book plane tickets, order gifts or sort out a plumber at short notice.

The second service is the newly-introduced Vertu City Brief. When a customer arrives in a new country, the handset uses the GPS to automatically alter the clock to the local timezone and inform the user of the best new restaurants, plays, concerts and events happening in that city that week. Businessmen will also be informed of the local business etiquette.

Of course, as usual, all this comes at a hefty price. To be able to afford the Vertu Constellation Ayxta, you better have a credit card with no limits: this one will set you back by an incredible 4,900 euros, which comes to roughly Rs. 3.45 lakhs!

Source

Nokia starts offering VERTU mobile phone services in Japan

Japan is a tough market to crack for many non-Japanese cell phone makers, and even the world’s leading cell phone maker, Nokia, had to give up its Japan operations after having failed to gain a foothold in this country (in November last year). But they’re trying again, this time with their luxury brand Vertu.

Being a Japanese VERTU CLUB subscriber includes a number of perks. Users can call up a concierge who takes care of things like restaurant or hotel reservations 24 hours a day, for example (in either English or Japanese). Another service, dubbed Fortress, makes it possible to store data like phone numbers or addresses on servers operated in an underground bunker in the UK.

The price for this nonsense: $560 monthly, but you can make 20 hours of domestic calls for free. I can’t see Nokia going anywhere with this, especially not in this economy, but I could be wrong.

Source

Nokia’s Vertu Launches Ascent Ti Carbon-Fiber Mobile Phones

Nokia’s luxurious Vertu series of mobile phones has been expanded with a new range of high-end Ascent models grouped under the Ti Carbon-Fiber collection. Continuing to lead the way with the application of innovative materials used on some of the world's most exclusive mobile phones, the latest Vertu Ascent Ti Carbon-Fiber mobile phones feature—you guessed it—lightweight carbon-fiber for their outer casing.

The collection includes the actual Ascent Ti Carbon-Fiber Limited Edition handset, as well as three different grips made from either pure carbon-fiber, carbon-fiber and aluminum, or carbon-fiber and copper.

Handcrafted in England, the carbon-fiber used for the handsets has been repeatedly tested to ensure the optimum amount of fibers and resin, which are then processed together to achieve a flawless uniform look on both the flat and curved parts of the handset.

The diagonal rib appearance of each phone is achieved using a twill carbon-fiber weave process resulting in a modern look whilst the actual carbon-fiber used has been tailor-made in the smallest 1k weave width to create a clean pattern profile. As with all Vertu's a number of other high-quality materials are used, including titanium for parts of the exterior and sapphire for the screen.

The handsets go on sale later this month with pricing available upon request.

Source

4 Nokia Vertu mobile phones get ripped off and cloned

If you are going to clone a mobile phone then why not clone a Vertu phone? The guys over at intomobile bring us four unofficial clones of the Vertu handsets today.

The rip-off merchants have been hard at work stealing a few lines from Nokia’s luxury Vertu and as usual fails to do the Vertu line any justice whatsoever.

There are 2 handset with touch screens while the other 2 are without, other gear includes Bluetooth, 2 SIM card slots on some, music player and microSD slot, but who really cares anyway? Remember, you get what you pay for in the end.

Source

Mobile & Wireless: Nine Cell Phones and Smartphones That Will Bust Your Budget

Recession? What recession?

In the best of times (and especially in the worst of times) nothing feels more liberating than an insanely indulgent purchase. Why spend, say, $150 to obtain a smartphone when you could pay 10 times that amount for a diamond-studded handset with a personal concierge? Or put down $700 for Nokia's new N97 smartphone? Sure, times are tough, but if your company is actually making money, what better way is there to reward yourself than with another overpriced, gilded gadget?

Here's a list of wildly overpriced cell phones you'll want to take out a second mortgage for.

Source