It looks like the designer bug has finally caught up with Sony Ericsson. Its recently launched T650i takes a leaf out of the books of previous premium offerings such as the Nokia 8800. And like the latter, the T650i features a scratch-resistant mineral glass cover for its display and stainless steel casing. Adding to the uniqueness of the phone is an illumination effect that goes from the display to the keypad.
However, unlike most premium designer handsets out there, the T650i offers quite an extensive feature set. These include a 3.2-megapixel camera with autofocus and LED light, 3G connectivity, A2DP Bluetooth stereo, FM radio with RDS, memory card expansion and an onboard media player. What really stands out is the unit's 12.5mm slim profile, which should go well with the fashion set.
As expected of a designer phone, the T650i, which will be available in Glowing Green and Midnight Blue, is premium priced at
If you were planning to camp out this week for the launch of the Palm Foleo, pick up the tent and go home.
Just for the record, iPods aren't the only gadgets that can be covered in diamonds or dipped in gold. GeekSugar says Amosu, which gave us the gold iPod, has veered beyond Apple products and applied its 24k gilding brush to LG's Prada phone for just under US$1,000.
We can almost picture Symbian S60 users doing the ^5 with their Windows Live counterparts (or is it the other way round?) and Rick Astley crooning Together Forever in the background. Ok, that's a bit over the top, but Nokia has announced that selected S60 devices will now support Windows Live services including Live Hotmail, Live Messenger, Live Contacts and Live Spaces.
Can you have too much of a good thing? Apparently never, according to Danish designer Bang & Olufsen (B&O) and Korean mobile giant Samsung. Having collaborated to give the world the Serene, a premium phone that's part land line, part mobile, they're now about to lift the lid on… drum rolls… the Serenata. Before you ask what in tarnation does the name mean and who came up with it, you'll have to also imagine what it looks like--since no "official" photo yet exists. A B&O representative in Singapore cannot confirm if the one circulating on the Web (as shown) is the real McCoy.
Part deux is expected to be unveiled in Berlin at the IFA trade fair on October 1, with selected European markets to get it first this year. We do have news that the Serenata will make its way to Asia possibly in 2008, which would probably bring it head-to-head with Apple's iPhone.
Both B&O and Samsung are keeping mum on the specs. But speculation on several gadget sites is that the fashion phone will sport a wheel keypad design similar to the Serene as well as a 262K-color touchscreen display, 4GB onboard memory and 3G/HSDPA support.
Image via UnwiredView.