Mobile phones with some high-profile, non-mobile branding seems to be all the rage with manufacturers and retailers at the moment, what with Samsung’s Armani phone, and Carphone’s Ted Baker and phones. Now Motorola’s got in on the act with its new Ferrari phone.
While most deals like this feature new or original handsets, Motorola’s gone for the easy option and basically slapped a Ferrari badge on a reasonably-old handset, the Z8 RIZR.
To be fair, the Z8 isn’t actually that bad a phone but this new limited edition isn’t exactly going to set the world alight. As well as a Ferrari logo plastered on the side, the Moto Z8 Ferrari Limited Edition, comes with two pre-loaded Ferrari videos, registration to the official Ferrari website, custom Ferrari wallpapers and ringtones and direct internet links to magazines like Top Gear, Auto Express, GQ, Esquire and Autosport. And like the standard Z8 release, you also get a bundled copy of The Bourne Identity movie.
Sadly, this won’t even be out in time for Christmas either, as it’s not going to be out until early next year from Ferrari and Motorola’s main retailers. Oh well…
As expected, the first phone to result from Samsung and Giorgio Armani’s ‘collaboration’ (aka rebranding the SGH-P520), has been officially revealed. Sort of. In keeping with its craptastic media pages (last updated in August), Samsung has yet to post any kind of press release about the Armani-Samsung. In fact, Googling the whole of Samsung.com comes up with zero links to the phone.
So we’re left with scouring conflicting reports from various sites to find accurate info. Is it 9mm or 10.5mm thick? Does it have wi-fi? Is it even 3G (seems probably not)? The only things that seem certain are that the screen is a 2.6″ QVGA and has a ‘vibro-touch’ feature when you select icons, it has a 3MP camera, and a microSD slot. Still, it’s a smooth looking piece of kit; expect it in-stores before Christmas for around €400 (£280) off-contract. Or €650 (£450). Guess what? No-one’s sure.
So we’ve known since July that Samsung’s touch-screen SGH-P520 was on the way, and news slipped out a couple of weeks back that it was about to be rebranded as the ‘Armani’. Now Reuters reports that today, 24th September, should see the official announcement of the Samsung Armani (picture above via Unwired View), at the showing of Giorgio Armani’s new collection of womenswear.
Said to be just 10.5mm thin, the Armani sports a 3MP camera, TV-out, touch-screen, QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) screen, and microSD support. There are also rumours that it’ll have wi-fi, although that’s clearly not on the spec list above. More on this as it happens…
