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5 Most Expensive Mobile Phones, Talk About Super Villains!

February 3, 2012 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

Browsing through reviews of the numerous luxury smartphones which have recently become available, you notice a certain word repeated often: INSANE. It seems there is no cap on the level of luxury and the corresponding price demanded for bespoke handsets, even though many of them offer less functionality than their conventional counterparts. Strong demand from abroad has meant that while UK retail sales figures have been in slight decline since 2008, the trade in luxury goods has remained consistent. If, like most of the populace, you have no idea what this means, but like shiny things nonetheless, check out this selection of luxury smartphones.

Motorola Aura Diamond Edition (£3,500) appx र 2,25,526

Motorola Aura Diamond Edition
Motorola Aura Diamond Edition

Released in early 2009, the handset represents an update to the already extravagant Aura, featuring 18-carat gold-plating and 34 round-cut diamonds.  While its appeal is in its eye-catching appearance, discerning users may be disappointed to find that the relatively low asking price means that the handset lacks GPS, 3G and Wi-fi connectivity.

Not for you? Why not consider buying 10,000 exercise books for school children in Africa (via UNICEF).

Vertu Constellation Quest (£17,300) appx र 11,14,121

Vertu Constellation Quest
Vertu Constellation Quest

While there are in fact two cheaper versions of the Constellation Quest available, you’re probably interested in the top-of-the-line yellow gold edition. Offering similar functionality to the Nokia E63 (Vertu was a subsidiary of the Finnish giants) the luxury elements consist of a built-in analogue clock and Vertu’s unique concierge function: accessed through a dedicated button, subscribers are put in touch with their own lifestyle manager, who’ll assist with the sort of day-to-day challenges that being disgustingly rich presents. And it’s gold, obviously.

You may equally be interested in a brand new, spacious Mercedes A-Class for the same money.

Sony Ericsson Black Diamond (£162,162) appx र 10,363,754

Sony Ericsson Black Diamond
Sony Ericsson Black Diamond

Dreamt up by Singaporean designer Jaren Goh, the ultra-modern Black Diamond wasn’t actually encrusted with diamonds, but seemingly attracted enough interest to reach the development phase nonetheless. The design is breathtaking, offering a borderless OLED screen, 4MP camera and…presumably other things (following initial hype, the buzz faltered, suggesting that the phone has been marketed exclusively to secretive super villains, or that it was just a big joke).

Not convinced? Why not hire the entire country of Lichtenstein for 4 nights?

Gresso Luxor Las Vegas Jackpot (£641,000) appx र 4,08,99,743

Gresso Luxor Las Vegas Jackpot
Gresso Luxor Las Vegas Jackpot

With keys made from individually polished sapphires, a back consisting of 200 year-old African blackwood and a pure gold chassis encrusted with black diamonds, this lavish handset is the epitome of super-luxury. With only two being made, the handset might actually appreciate in value, representing a sensible investment. Perhaps.

No? You may also be interested in acquiring a bloody house or two instead.

Stuart Hughes iPhone 4S Elite Gold (£6,000,000) appx र 38,28,36,916

Stuart Hughes iPhone 4S Elite Gold
Stuart Hughes iPhone 4S Elite Gold

The self-proclaimed “world’s most expensive phone”, this handset features, among other things, several hundred flawless diamonds. The broader package includes a solid platinum presentation chest set with polished pieces of genuine T-rex bone and even comes with spare diamonds, in case you’re the kind of person who’s prone to losing diamonds. Unlike other phones in this list, it also has features consistent with those you’d expect for a modern smartphone, which practically renders it a steal at £6 million.

You could alternatively, buy 600,000 regular smartphones, but what would be the point in that?

Filed Under: Consumer Technology Tagged With: apple, Mobility Market, Motorola, sony

Failed Apple Products – Top 5 Picks

December 16, 2011 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

Apple Inc. is known for it’s high quality products and the hype it creates during it’s product launches. There was a time when products like the Macintosh and Apple II captivated consumers. Recently the company has increased its consumer base with elegant and attractive products such as the iPod, iPhone and iPad (According to June 2011 stats, Apple sold 200 million iOS devices, including 25 million iPads). Despite the success of these products, there are others that did not do quite well.

Failed Apple Products

failed apple products
The Apple II

One of the very first products designed by Apple, Apple II, proved quite a hit with consumers and was very successful. The company decided to research and hence developed Apple III. The product was introduced in 1980 but was a commercial failure due to stability problems. This failure forced Apple to cancel the production of the product. The failure of Apple III was also influenced by the competition from IBM computers and the high price tag placed on Apple III. Apple III is first in the line up of failed Apple products.

apple lisa
Apple Lisa

Apple Lisa was a personal computer developed in the 1980’s featuring a graphical user interface. When it was introduced into the market, a single computer went for $10, 000 which was way out of reach of ordinary consumers. Although the product had innovative features targeted at business consumers, its price was too high. After poor sales, Apple decided to discontinue Lisa in 1986 and destroyed thousands of Lisa computers.

apple pippin
Apple Pippin

In 1996, Apple in conjunction with a Japan based gaming company launched the Apple Bandai Pippin. The Apple pippin was touted by the company as one of its kind multimedia and gaming device. The product featured a CD-ROM drive and users could play games from the Macintosh and Pippin. The device could also be connected to the internet. However, when the product was eventually released the gaming market was crowded with other products such as the Nintendo, Sega Saturn and PlayStation. The company only sold 42,000 units of the product.

motorokr e1
Motorola ROKR E1

In 2005, Apple worked with Motorola to launch the Motorola ROKR E1. With this product, Apple intended to bring iTunes to smartphones. Although the market was ready for such a product, Motorola ROKR E1 only allowed users to transfer 100 music tracks at a time. It also featured numerous menus that made transferring of music slow and tedious. The product’s demise was quickened when Apple introduced the iPod Nano, which forced Motorola not to integrate future version of the smartphone with the iTunes platform.

apple tv
Apple TV

This made a recent entry into the trailing list of failed apple products. Apple TV did not last long in the market. By the time it was introduced the company was riding over a wave of success with the popularity of several products such as the iPod and iTunes among others. The idea behind Apple TV was for it to be a content streamer. Apple intended users to connect the device with their computer so that they could have access to a personal video recorder or TV turner. The failure of the product is attributed to the fact that it had a limited video format and that Apple could not make a deal with content providers.

Statistical Data[BGR]

Image Credit[Wikipedia]

Filed Under: Consumer Technology Tagged With: apple, Motorola