£6700 Phone Uses Android Instead of Windows

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£6700 Phone Uses Android Instead of Windows

Posted by timothy on Tuesday February 12, 2013 @05:22AM from the fool-money-separator dept.

judgecorp writes "Vertu, the luxury phone maker formerly owned by Nokia, has chosen Android over Windows Phone for its new £6700 Vertu Ti device. The bling brand is no longer part of Nokia, so is free to shun Windows Phone — apparently because there are not enough apps there for Vertu's rich customers." Previous Vertu handsets used Symbian. Note: £6700 is just over 10,000 USD.

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only 1gb ram?? cheaper phones have 2gb by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-12 05:25 · Score: 4, Insightful

only 1gb ram?? cheaper phones have 2gb
Why do these phones always suck? by h4rr4r · 2013-02-12 05:29 · Score: 5, Interesting

I get it they are to show off how rich you are, but seems like for $10k I would want something a little better specced.
Why do they then always suck? You could get a real top of the line phone and have a custom solid gold body made for it for less and have a better device.
1. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by sharkytm · 2013-02-12 05:32 · Score: 4, Informative
  
  b-b-b-b-b-but it wouldn't be a LUXURY BRAND (R)(C). Heck, most of a Lexus is Toyota, Acura-Honda, Infiniti-Nissan. Wealthy ( and more importantly)Image-conscious people don't care about functionality, they care about appearances. Plain and simple.
2. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Improv · 2013-02-12 05:32 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  The kind of person who would waste that kind of money on a phone merits a phone that sucks.
  
  --
  For every problem, there is at least one solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
3. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-12 05:35 · Score: 1
  
  I get it they are to show off how rich you are, but seems like for $10k I would want something a little better specced.
  Why do they then always suck? You could get a real top of the line phone and have a custom solid gold body made for it for less and have a better device.
  Exactly. YOU would want something a little better specced.
  But no, you very clearly DON'T get that it's to show off how rich you are if you're then asking why they always suck and suggesting what is, for all intents and purposes, a no-name custom knockoff instead of a recognized brand name that rich people can point to in front of their rich friends they wish to impress (and poor friends they wish to intimidate), grunt, and have the point understood without further explanation that doesn't sate their magpie-like lust for shinies.
4. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by h4rr4r · 2013-02-12 05:40 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  That does not explain why they suck though. They could charge $12k and make it a decent device.
5. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-02-12 05:45 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I get it they are to show off how rich you are, but seems like for $10k I would want something a little better specced.
  Why do they then always suck? You could get a real top of the line phone and have a custom solid gold body made for it for less and have a better device.
  Tech is a pretty brutal market to do 'luxury' goods in. R&D and design costs are extremely high, while manufacturing is (relatively) cheap per unit. So, the guy who is stamping out several million pieces of consumer shit can spend more on making the software not suck and the case(while possibly plastic) elegantly designed than the guy stamping out 1,000 'luxury' devices. It doesn't help that phones are harshly power constrained, so you can't even make something 'better' by splurging on fancy silicon(at least with a desktop, you could shove the fastest i7 that Intel makes and several times as much RAM as the customer could ever need into the chassis as a value-add). The thermal envelope and battery size are so small that mass-market junk, made in huge volume on refined processes, will offer a better experience than any custom or super-overclocked, or 'just-plain-excessive-amounts-of-RAM' configuration would.
  This still doesn't explain why 'Vertu' hardware is actively worse than generic Nexus gear, since they could probably just buy Nexus hardware at retail and rip the case off for less money than designing their own hardware; but tech in general is pretty hard to do 'luxury' in.
6. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by h4rr4r · 2013-02-12 05:48 · Score: 1
  
  Why not do a Lexus?
  Just get a big boy to provide you with everything done and you can make a fancy body for it?
  Hell why not do what Google does with the Nexus line? Work with one of the big players to do the whole thing for you but put your branding on it.
7. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by alexander_686 · 2013-02-12 05:57 · Score: 1
  
  From the article, the phone comes with concierge services – i.e. you hit a call button and can get a real person on the phone – which – if I had to guess – would be why it is so expensive.
8. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-02-12 05:59 · Score: 1
  
  That's the part I don't understand: it makes sense that 'luxury' electronics can't actually afford to be much better than much more modestly priced consumer gear; but it is quite mysterious why they are actively worse when the same people who OEM the good stuff would be more than happy to sell you the same guts that you can then cover with artisinal hand-tanned tiger foreskin leather or gold-encrusted ivory or whatever.
9. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Graydyn+Young · 2013-02-12 06:07 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  The great thing about Vertu Ti is, unlike Lexus, it's not even a widely recognized brand. So when you're showing off you're fancy new phone and say "It's an authentic Vertu Ti!" nobody is even going to know what you're talking about.
10. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Sique · 2013-02-12 06:11 · Score: 1
  
  Not only is most of a Lexus Toyota, Lexus is 100% Toyota. Lexus is just a badge at the front of a Toyota made car (and here around, they even share the showrooms).
  
  --
  .sig: Sique *sigh*
11. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by TheSunborn · 2013-02-12 06:12 · Score: 1
  
  No they could not. The problem is development time. When they started the development they most likely started with state of the art available hardware, but it take them so long to develop and release a phone, that its performance will be meh once they release them.
  And it take them so long because their development staff is extreamly small, compared to Samsung, HTC and Apple.
12. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by sinij · 2013-02-12 06:21 · Score: 1
  
  >>>Not only is most of a Lexus Toyota, Lexus is 100% Toyota
  
  Can someone explain this with a car analogy?
13. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by CastrTroy · 2013-02-12 06:21 · Score: 1
  
  That's what I was thinking. It's so ridiculously luxurious that nobody's ever heard of it. This reminds me of the coffee that comes from beans with have been through the digestive system of a civet. Paying absurd prices for stuff that isn't even better than the cheaper stuff.
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
14. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by sl4shd0rk · 2013-02-12 06:22 · Score: 1
  
  Why do they then always suck? You could get a real top of the line phone
  Not sure if you're an Apple Fanbois angling for sentiment among the brethren, or largely just annoyed by the design of the phone but perhaps you can find some solace in knowing they only sell (FTFA) around 320,000 of these a year. That percentage isn't even mentionable in comparison to the number of iOS devices in the US, or even Android devices globally.
  
  --
  Join the Slashcott! Feb 10 thru Feb 17!
15. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by afgam28 · 2013-02-12 06:23 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Not really. Lexus cars are always better spec'd than their Toyota counterparts. Same goes for Acura and Infiniti. The specs might not go up linearly with the price, but they are objectively better cars.
  Vertu's phones on the other hand are not as good as the iPhone and a lot of Android phones.
  The only thing that might justify Vertu's prices are the luxury services that come with the phone (Vertu Concierge), but forcing their customers to use such a crappy handset is a serious drawback that brands like Lexus do not have.
16. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by h4rr4r · 2013-02-12 06:34 · Score: 2
  
  They did not have to do any of that.
  You can call an OEM up right now and order X devices built for you. Hell make your own chassis for it even, or glass. Google does this with the Nexus Line. The Nexus 4 is pretty much an LG Optimus.
17. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by amicusNYCL · 2013-02-12 06:35 · Score: 1
  
  I'm sure that the people who hang out in those circles know perfectly well what it is.
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
18. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by amicusNYCL · 2013-02-12 06:37 · Score: 1
  
  A screen made from sapphire will also add to the bill. I doubt the leather really costs that much, but a sapphire screen can't be cheap.
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
19. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by squiggleslash · 2013-02-12 06:43 · Score: 1
  
  320,000? I see a market for an even more exclusive phone...
  
  --
  You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
20. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by leonardluen · 2013-02-12 06:50 · Score: 1
  
  I believe it is...
  you are so rich that the trunk of the car is too small to fit all your bags of money. so you need to spend extra money for the same car that everyone else is buying, so the car maker graciously put a fancy logo on it indicating they would allow you to pay more for that particular model.
21. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by HiThere · 2013-02-12 06:50 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think you've priced gold recently.
  P.S.: Solid gold wouldn't work as a case. It's too soft. You need to alloy in some copper or something to make it harder. 24K gold might work, though. It seems pretty hard in a ring, but I've never seen a large sheet of it, so I don't really know if it's strong enough.
  
  --
  
  I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
22. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by whoever57 · 2013-02-12 07:03 · Score: 1
  
  24K gold might work, though. It seems pretty hard in a ring,
  When have you seen a 24Kt gold ring? Answer, you haven't. 18Kt perhaps, but not 24Kt. As you say, it's too soft. Perhaps you might have seen jewelery with 24Kt plating.
  
  --
  The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
23. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-12 07:20 · Score: 1
  
  I doubt it. Sapphire crystals (the glass bit) are pretty common in even relatively cheap watches. It's synthetic sapphire, probably not much more than £50 for a screen that size.
24. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Stoutlimb · 2013-02-12 08:04 · Score: 1
  
  The problem is that once such a beast is designed and built, it's relatively easy to build the factory to stamp them out by the millions, and that's where the real profits are. The only players big enough to pull that off are too big to care about the few rich fools who would pay that kind of markup. Until the rate of technological progress slows, it will be the masses that are closest to the bleeding edge, and any $10,000 phone will either be a prototype on it's way to market (and subject to so many NDA's that no rich person could pay enough to be allowed to show it off), or a sub-par phone with diamonds glued to the case. That what you wish for cannot exist is a quirk of the amazing world we live in.
25. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Stoutlimb · 2013-02-12 08:14 · Score: 1
  
  That is for cars, where those features actually cost a lot to manufacture. For cell phones there are no features that could raise the price to $10,000. Diamonds glued to the case aren't functional, so this excludes decoration.
26. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by fafalone · 2013-02-12 08:50 · Score: 1
  
  The precious metals and gems matter to these people too. And the design. See something like worldlux.com. They sell a $26895 roller ball pen there. I've never written with it but I don't suspect it's that much better than regular roller balls. How much better is the $12000 ST Dupont lighter than a Zippo? Multi-thousand dollar platinum ashtrays aren't any better than their non-platinum counterparts either.
27. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by horza · 2013-02-12 09:22 · Score: 2
  
  As you are posting as anon I cannot tell if you are a billionaire or not, but I would say for it to sell in the luxury market it will need:
  1: any version of android, as long as it has a stunning wallpaper
  2: a processor of some sort
  3: at least enough memory to run Facebook and Youtube, possibly Angry Birds
  4: no card storage
  5: enough on-board to copy an iPod worth of contents
  6: a colour screen
  7: a stunning design case
  8: ok battery life
  9: a copy of something like Cerberus pre-installed
  10: good enough antenna
  It's all about style. Even the 1998 model Nokia 8810 fetches the price of a Nexus these days, and that has a mono screen. Think about it more like a pair of sunglasses than a car, something you put down on the table in the bar and others will judge you by it.
  Phillip.
  
  --
  Property for sale in Nice, France
28. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by 91degrees · 2013-02-12 09:25 · Score: 1
  
  I imagine most Lexus owners would be intrigued if I showed up in a Breckland Beira V8 or a Farbio GTS even though most people don't know of them.
  
  It doesn't need to be recognised. It looks expensive, and the fact that you won something that other people haven;t even heard of is itself a status symbol.
  
  It's basically the ultimate hipster phone.
29. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by horza · 2013-02-12 09:25 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think a reseller will be allowed to buy another brand retail, put the internals into a new cover, and pass it off as their own phone. That would be inviting a law suit pretty quickly.
  Phillip.
  
  --
  Property for sale in Nice, France
30. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by R3d+M3rcury · 2013-02-12 09:49 · Score: 2
  
  So when you're showing off you're fancy new phone and say "It's an authentic Vertu Ti!" nobody is even going to know what you're talking about.
  "It's an authentic Vertu Ti!"
  "Never heard of it."
  "I'm not surprised. It's very exclusive."
  Sort of the rich equivalent of being a hipster.
31. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by rk · 2013-02-12 10:04 · Score: 1
  
  It's not cheap, no, but not so expensive that it would add (much) to justify a 10,000 price tag. Quality watches have sapphire glass because it's very scratch resistant, but you can get such watches for as low as 300-400 bucks street price (and sometimes get a smokin' deal for considerably less). It's also (almost?) always a synthetic sapphire.
32. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Kupfernigk · 2013-02-12 10:18 · Score: 1
  
  That's what I was thinking. It's so ridiculously luxurious that nobody's ever heard of it. This reminds me of the coffee that comes from beans with have been through the digestive system of a civet. Paying absurd prices for stuff that isn't even better than the cheaper stuff.
  I was given some civet coffee. It is better than the cheap stuff. It just isn't 40 times better.
  
  --
  From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
33. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Coeurderoy · 2013-02-12 12:15 · Score: 1
  
  A friend of mine drives a Ferrari, it's an embarrassingly efficient chick magnet, the on board computer screen is crap, but you know what, nobody cares ...
  The vertu owner is happy to have a very good looking phone and concierge service, the technology will be obsolete in any case because the economics of small run productions implies a longer sales life.
  The electronics have just to be "good enough", and with android they have all the toy apps everybody has so they will not be dissed by somebody telling them my "xyz" can do this and you can't...
  And for the rest explaining that your phone "is worth the cost", (letting the listener "imagine" the cost), using the concierge service to book a very expensive and hard to enter restaurant will "do the job" (you'll have also to pick up the tab of course...)
  Now if you feel this is a little bit crass, you're either just jealous, or not the kind of person who gets all wet seeing an i ....
  you could try this http://www.johnsphones.com/ it's a little bit ridiculously expensive compared to a cheap entry prices samsung dumbphone, but it looks cool, a great conversation piece, and way cheaper than a "vertu"...
34. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by Trogre · 2013-02-12 12:38 · Score: 1
  
  You may have overlooked one important spec that is missing from other smartphones:
  Not assembled in China.
  
  --
  "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
35. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by sunderland56 · 2013-02-12 16:23 · Score: 1
  
  In most of the world, there *are* no Lexus/Acura/Infiniti cars. Those badges are an exclusively American thing; in the rest of the world, those better-equipped models are sold as Toyotas, Hondas, and Nissans.
  So yes, in the USA, a Lexus is generally better spec'ed - but that is just because they peel the Toyota badges off the nice ones when they arrive in the States and slap on Lexus ones. It isn't because of any sort of different engineering - all of the base components are identical.
36. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by mjwx · 2013-02-12 17:10 · Score: 1
  
  Not really. Lexus cars are always better spec'd than their Toyota counterparts. Same goes for Acura and Infiniti. The specs might not go up linearly with the price, but they are objectively better cars.
  Not really,
  
  The biggest differences are normally in the Interior (I.E. Leather seats as standard on a Lexus R300 and optional on a Toyota Aurion). With the other brands you mentioned, these seem to be American specific. The Infinity G37 in Asia and Europe is sold as the Nissan Skyline 350/370GT and Australia as the Nissan Skyline 350/370z. The Acura cars are sold as Honda in other parts of the world. I own a Honda Integra Type S (DC5S) which is known as the Acura RSX Type S in north and south America. The only difference between the Honda Integra and Acura RSX is the badging on the front.
  
  Luxury brands for average cars are a scam to get you to pay twice as much for a Toyota Aurion or Kluger badged as a Lexus
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
37. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by afgam28 · 2013-02-12 18:47 · Score: 1
  
  I don't think that Lexus is a scam on the same level as Vertu. Bad value? Maybe. But Lexus vehicles are always at least as good as their Toyota counterparts.
  Who cares if an Integra is the same car as an RSX? They're both great cars I'd be perfectly happy with either. The point is that the RSX is not worse than the Integra. The same cannot be said about a Vertu and an iPhone - the "luxury" Vertu is an inferior product.
38. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-02-12 23:05 · Score: 1
  
  Oh, you wouldn't literally do it that way, you'd work with the OEM to do a re-badge with your preferred changes(just as the Nexus itself does, though on a much larger scale). My intention was just to note that, given the profit margins that would allow you to do something as inefficient as 'purchase-at-retail-and-tear-up', you really should be able to OEM a top-end device to wrap in bling.
39. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by CastrTroy · 2013-02-13 03:24 · Score: 1
  
  At this point they might as well "artificially" produce the stuff. They said it has something to do with the stomach acids. So bath the beans in acid prior to roasting them. Some people say it has something to do with the scent glands of the civet cat. I'm sure they could find some way to reproduce that in the lab, or at least harvest it from the animals in a humane way without having to force feed them coffee.
  
  --
  
  Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
40. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by steelfood · 2013-02-13 04:22 · Score: 1
  
  Which is to say, car manufacturers under-spec their non-luxury brands so that they can justify the higher prices of their luxury brands.
  
  --
  "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
41. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by HiThere · 2013-02-13 06:27 · Score: 1
  
  You're probably right. I don't follow jewlery, so I probably got two differnt product confused.
  
  --
  
  I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
42. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by GameboyRMH · 2013-02-13 07:54 · Score: 1
  
  Maybach owners don't drive them, they get driven in them.
  
  --
  "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
43. Re:Why do these phones always suck? by mjwx · 2013-02-13 13:59 · Score: 1
  
  Who cares if an Integra is the same car as an RSX? They're both great cars I'd be perfectly happy with either. The point is that the RSX is not worse than the Integra.
  The points over here.
  
  Hi.
  
  You seem to have missed it.
  
  The reason the Honda Integra was not sold as the Honda Integra in the US is that Honda decided they could ask for a higher price tag under the Acura brand (same with the Honda Accord and Acura TL). They are exactly the same car with the same K20 engine made in the same factory in Suzuka, Japan. Only the badge is different.
  
  As a side note, I own one (Honda badging as I live in Australia) and they are awesome cars.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
You're not supposed to use it by Overzeetop · 2013-02-12 05:29 · Score: 4, Insightful

You're supposed to be seen with it. To be honest, I'm surprised they didn't buy an Iphone and re-case it from scratch. The market is clearly brand conscious people who get all hot and bothered about overpaying for mediocre performance. How does that not scream Apple?

--
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
1. Re:You're not supposed to use it by acariquara · 2013-02-12 05:34 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Because iPhones actually perform well?
  
  --
  Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all
2. Re:You're not supposed to use it by AvitarX · 2013-02-12 05:37 · Score: 1
  
  Isn't that just an iPhone and the I am rich app?
  
  --
  Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
3. Re:You're not supposed to use it by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-12 05:41 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  [Citation needed]
4. Re:You're not supposed to use it by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-12 05:51 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Its all about position. Apple product is just to affordable for these people. Joe public can get an iPhone if he wants one. Might not be the best use of his money but its option for him. These people want to have something you and I just can't touch, or can't touch without make other sacrifices that would make us appear foolish ( you can't roll up in your 12 year old rust bucket and look cool even if you are holding $7000 cell phone to your head ).
  I was once out to lunch with my grandfather at the club he belonged too. It was just down the street from a similar institution widely regarded as somewhat more prestigious to which he had once belonged and claimed to have left for personal reasons ( I interpret that as a euphemism for being kicked out of for having opinions deemed to egalitarian). The club we were at was open to anyone who could pay the membership dues and could find a current member to vouch for you, the one he had left generally required you demonstrate you had relation to some old money. We are dining on an upper floor looking out the window, the other place had a roof top dining area. He commented "You know whats funny? here we ware looking down on them and there they are looking down on us."
  The point being that arguably we were in better facilities, physically up higher, eating food that was probably of the same high quality; and he was paying less for the privilege. Yet they were very pleased with themselves simply because they belonged to something more exclusive.
5. Re:You're not supposed to use it by amicusNYCL · 2013-02-12 06:34 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  How exactly do you expect them to get a license to use iOS? Apple doesn't give those out, their options are Android or Windows Phone. Of course they're going to choose Android.
  
  --
  "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
6. Re:You're not supposed to use it by Maritz · 2013-02-12 07:43 · Score: 1
  
  ( you can't roll up in your 12 year old rust bucket and look cool even if you are holding $7000 cell phone to your head ).
  To me, any dick with a seven grand tacky jewel-encrusted phone will always be a tryhard asswipe, and never, ever cool. But each to their own.
  
  --
  I do not want your cheap brainburning drugs. They are useless for work. And I am a working man today.
7. Re:You're not supposed to use it by greenfruitsalad · 2013-02-12 07:52 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Because iPhones actually perform well?
8. Re:You're not supposed to use it by rtfa-troll · 2013-02-12 09:08 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  Key features of this are things like a sapphire display which is much better than and much much more expensive than gorilla glass. The other thing is the "I am rich" button - to call your conceierge. This is to an iPhone as an iPhone is to a really cheap Android phone. Which is to say, on a cheap Android phone you will get a bunch of features that the iPhone doesn't have, such as the ability to side load applications, but your iPhone geek will just say "don't want" and point at his better display. This is the reason why top end Android phones devices to outclass the iPhone on display technology. Everybody knows the iPhone fans have to grit their teeth as they pretend not to care.
  The other thing is that this is very clearly saying that their customers are wanting something that integrates with their surroundings properly. "You need to be part of an ecosystem," is the key quote in the BBC article in explaining why they avoided WP8. Coming from a former Nokia person, and almost directly a quote from Steven Elop on why they chose Windows, I think that could be a sign that Windows Phone will be abandoned sooner rather than later. Possibly with Elop going with it. It's certainly a pretty direct hint to the board members of his former employer.
  
  --
  =~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
9. Re:You're not supposed to use it by mjwx · 2013-02-12 15:58 · Score: 1
  
  Because iPhones actually perform well?
  No, no they dont. You did ask the question.
  
  --
  Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
10. Re:You're not supposed to use it by Sandra+D · 2013-02-17 13:57 · Score: 1
  
  Agree. I don't like iOS at all.
  
  --
  a good store
You ask: "Why a $10000 phone!?!?" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-12 05:30 · Score: 1

Answer: Because some people think status symbols will some day feed their empty souls.
1. Re:You ask: "Why a $10000 phone!?!?" by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-12 07:05 · Score: 1
  
  Status symbols are more likely to eat what's left of a person's soul.
Apps by DogDude · 2013-02-12 05:31 · Score: 1, Troll

apparently because there are not enough apps there for Vertu's rich customers.

This was nowhere in the article, so I have to assume that the summary writer hasn't used a Windows Phone. Windows Phones don't need access to a bazillion apps, usually, because the phones do so much more out of the box than the other two big competitors. But, all of the major apps are certainly available. I guess if you need 500 different fart apps, then the Windows Phone may not be for you. I only counted about 30 in the Windows Phone app store.

--
I don't respond to AC's.
1. Re:Apps by h4rr4r · 2013-02-12 05:37 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  All the major apps? Yeah, right. Even top games are not available. Temple Run and the like. Hell they had to bribe Rovio to bring angry birds over.
  What exactly does your magic phone do out of the box the others don't?
  Considering the desktop OS in 2013 still does not support ipsec vpn out of the box I have a hard time imagining what they added to WinPhone.
2. Re:Apps by gl4ss · 2013-02-12 05:49 · Score: 2
  
  modded up - why the fuck?
  there's a bunch of apps you can't do on wp. it's not the number of apps, it's about what they can do. and out of the box wp does shit all nothing, it's just that you can't do add-on features as much.
  and perhaps that's why they went with android. other reasons: choosing any hw they happen to want to run it, choosing any resolution they want, not being tied to ms ties for camera drivers, customizing the sw any way they want..
  
  --
  world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
3. Re:Apps by h4rr4r · 2013-02-12 05:52 · Score: 2
  
  The other phones have that built in as well. Often the replacement applications are just better or the users preference. Does winphone have skype working properly yet? Meaning it can fireup the app when a call comes in? I know that was a no go with 7.5.
  You must not be using your device very often. I often work from mine, yes ssh on a 4 inch screen is not great but better than nothing.
4. Re:Apps by gstoddart · 2013-02-12 06:24 · Score: 1
  
  Windows Phones don't need access to a bazillion apps, usually, because the phones do so much more out of the box than the other two big competitors.
  What "so much more out of the box" does a Windows Phone do that the others don't?
  You're making a bold claim with nothing to support it, and I'm genuinely curious to know if that's true. I've certainly never heard of anything those phones do that Android and Apple can't do.
  My guess is it does the exact same thing as other phones for the most part.
  
  --
  Lost at C:>. Found at C.
5. Re:Apps by Aqualung812 · 2013-02-12 06:38 · Score: 1
  
  I bought a Windows Phone. I really wanted to like it.
  I LOVED the interface, I really think live tiles are great for phones (don't get me started on how much they suck for Windows).
  All that said, when I got an iPhone 5 after having the Windows phone, I was happy to have the apps back.
  Very short list of apps I could not get on Windows Phone that are not fart apps & I use often:
  Glympse (WP wouldn't run in the background)
  Pandora
  Dish Network (Streaming from my DVR at home)
  Fitbit
  Starbucks
  Flickr
  Swiss Trains app (and about 20 other BUSINESS travel related apps that are usually done for iPhone first, Android second, and low support for anything else)
  *Microsoft* Photosynth - Yes, I know they finally have it for WP now, but for the longest time, Microsoft's app was only available on iPhone.
  Skype - My WP couldn't receive calls on it, because Microsoft wouldn't update my phone to WP8
  I really want WP to be a good 3rd option, but they have to get the app support. This is the EXACT same reason I suggested Windows to people for the previous 20 years - Macs might be fun & cute, but Windows has the applications. When it comes to mobile, it is now the opposite.
  
  --
  Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
6. Re:Apps by thePowerOfGrayskull · 2013-02-12 06:54 · Score: 1
  
  apparently because there are not enough apps there for Vertu's rich customers.
  This was nowhere in the article, so I have to assume that the summary writer hasn't used a Windows Phone. Windows Phones don't need access to a bazillion apps, usually, because the phones do so much more out of the box than the other two big competitors. But, all of the major apps are certainly available. I guess if you need 500 different fart apps, then the Windows Phone may not be for you. I only counted about 30 in the Windows Phone app store.
  Wait - are you a WP defender or a BlackBerry defender?!
  I get so confused anymore...
7. Re:Apps by rtfa-troll · 2013-02-12 09:39 · Score: 2
  
  Agreed. The "not enough apps" conversation/excuse is a dumb one. 95% of the apps people are installing never get used. They just sit there for epeen measuring and "just in case I need it". If you disagree I dare you to actually count the number of apps you use in a day.
  This is so; so horribly wrong. 99.9% of the time I don't care about having an up to date Stuttgart travel planner app in Android. It's the one time that I need it; that I'm late for my plane; that I can't get a taxi. That one time I manage to get my flight because my Android phone knows how to do it for me can be worth more than the entire phone and all the software on it. The magic app which saves you can be a simple ruler application which lets you call for the right screw to fix your car. It can be a medical app which tells you how to resuscitate your kid. Not everybody needs every app, but nobody knows exactly which app it is that they will need.
  In any case, what's wrong with Windows Phone is not so much the lack of apps; that's a problem, but one you can plan around by having an Android or iOS tablet as well. It's more that, most of the apps were just brought in as the initial version required to get Microsoft's developer bounty and abandoned. With the lack of users everything is untested and there is no incentive for developers to update them after that first upload. The store is now even more dated than they were before WP8 launched. This means that you launch an app, hope it will work and find it doesn't actually do what you need. A bad tool may well be worse than no tool and no self respecting person should be caught out with one.
  
  --
  =~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
8. Re:Apps by R3d+M3rcury · 2013-02-12 13:47 · Score: 1
  
  You really should read the reviews section. Most of the comments were about how it doesn't work in WP8.
  On the other hand, Tokenshell/WP appears to work.
9. Re:Apps by rtfa-troll · 2013-02-12 20:02 · Score: 1
  
  "My kids having a seizure! Wait, I know! I have an app on my phone that will tell me what to do." - Said no one, ever.
  Mock and laugh you may, but when you are trapped by an earthquake in Haiti. you will wish you shilled for a company that makes proper phones.
  
  --
  =~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
For $10K, don't give me a 1.5 year old OS. by Andy+Prough · 2013-02-12 05:32 · Score: 3, Insightful

Why Ice Cream Sandwich? 4.2 has more features.
Saboski by WillgasM · 2013-02-12 05:33 · Score: 1

Jus glue some crysals to ur iPhone. Saboski crystal are cheaper than diamonds, but they're diamonds.
Vertitude by Empiric · 2013-02-12 05:38 · Score: 5, Funny

Apple should now officially start worrying: Android has cracked a market segment with the stratospheric level of pretentiousness and narcissism that Steve Jobs can now only haunt wistfully from his new no-margin domain.

--
~ Whence do you come, slayer of men, or where are you going, conqueror of space?
For that much money... by jonadab · 2013-02-12 05:39 · Score: 3, Interesting

For that much money, I'd think these rich customers could hire a team of engineers to design a custom phone just for them, with their name spelled out in the actual circuitry as well as embossed on the case, which could be custom-ergonomized to fit perfectly in their personal hand.

--
Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
1. Re:For that much money... by kakaburra · 2013-02-12 06:55 · Score: 1
  
  you couldn't hire one engineer for 10k let alone team of engineers.. anyway those are the kind of people who buy stuff because of the price not because of functionality
2. Re:For that much money... by jonadab · 2013-02-14 16:32 · Score: 1
  
  > you couldn't hire one engineer for 10k let alone team of engineers.
  
  Perhaps you are thinking per year. I don't imagine it would take an entire year to design a cellphone. (If it did, new models wouldn't come out every few weeks and then routinely be taken off the market just a handful of weeks later.)
  
  --
  Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
Im not the target market for these.. by cant_get_a_good_nick · 2013-02-12 05:43 · Score: 1

I always thought a Vertu was like the "I Am Rich" app - an easy way to broadcast that you have enough money to purchase expensive frivolous things. As such the cascade of "well, the Galaxy S4 has more RAM...." will also be irrelevant.
I guess I'm just too paranoid - I'd always think of these phones as a big "please rob me" signs, even worse than an iPhone. I guess you'd hire a phone bodyguard when you got one.
1. Re:Im not the target market for these.. by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · 2013-02-12 05:52 · Score: 1
  
  Oh, you proles will just never understand what quality really means. In particular, the sapphire-coated screen is much less likely to scratch when your butler or nubile trophy wife is preparing a line of coke for you.
  Glass isn't nearly as bad as plastic; but I probably went through 3 iPhones a week back when I was snorting coke off those...
2. Re:Im not the target market for these.. by rtfa-troll · 2013-02-12 09:41 · Score: 1
  
  but I probably went through 3 iPhones a week back when I was snorting coke off those...
  You have a tungsten carbide snorting tube?
  
  --
  =~ s,(.*),<sarcasm>$1</sarcasm>,g if any_point_you_wish();
3. Re:Im not the target market for these.. by Kupfernigk · 2013-02-12 10:25 · Score: 1
  
  You do know 'nubile' means marriageable? You must work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
  
  --
  From scarped cliff or quarried stone she cries "A thousand types are gone, I care for nothing, no not one."
Choosing Windows would have been more surprising.. by dtjohnson · 2013-02-12 05:46 · Score: 2, Insightful

Let's see...should we choose: 1) the most widely used handset OS in the world with a huge number of apps and open-source code or 2) a much less popular proprietary system with more limited functionality, a limited number of apps, and proprietary code owned by one of the most overbearing software companies that has ever existed? Decisions...decisions...
That was my first thought. by Dr.+Manhattan · 2013-02-12 05:46 · Score: 2

My old Droid was RAM-limited (256MB), but I haven't run into any isues with my S3 with 2GB of RAM. I've got "889MB used, 705MB free" - of course, I don't run a bunch of stupid background apps.
When you're using titanium for the case and sapphire for the screen, you cant spring for a 2GB chip instead of 1GB? Seriously?

--
PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
1. Re:That was my first thought. by whoever57 · 2013-02-12 06:55 · Score: 1
  
  When you're using titanium for the case and sapphire for the screen, you cant spring for a 2GB chip instead of 1GB? Seriously?
  
  Amount of RAM has a significant effect on battery life. It's not just a cost issue.
  
  --
  The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
2. Re:That was my first thought. by Dr.+Manhattan · 2013-02-12 07:03 · Score: 1
  
  Amount of RAM has a significant effect on battery life.
  Do you have data sheets or something to support that? From everything I've seen, that would be peanuts compared to the screen.
  
  --
  PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
3. Re:That was my first thought. by tqk · 2013-02-12 07:27 · Score: 1
  
  When you're using titanium for the case and sapphire for the screen, you cant spring for a 2GB chip instead of 1GB? Seriously?
  Performance is not their priority. Cachet is.
  
  --
  "Tongue tied and twisted, just an Earth bound misfit ..." -- Pink Floyd.
4. Re:That was my first thought. by jones_supa · 2013-02-12 10:48 · Score: 1
  
  The screen is the biggest power consumer, but that doesn't mean that the power consumption of other components shouldn't be paid attention to.
5. Re:That was my first thought. by Dr.+Manhattan · 2013-02-13 00:48 · Score: 1
  
  The screen is the biggest power consumer, but that doesn't mean that the power consumption of other components shouldn't be paid attention to.
  That's not what I said. There's a cost-benefit tradeoff here. What is the benefit in performance that the extra RAM gives versus the cost of the chip and the power drain? That's why I asked for data sheets. Let's calculate just how many extra amp-hours we'd be drawing here.
  Note, again, that they're using a titanium case with a sapphire screen. This thing, as TFA says, already weighs more than average. Tossing in a slightly bigger battery to power the extra RAM isn't the hit it would be in more commodity phones.
  
  --
  PHEM - party like it's 1997-2003!
As a developer... by BenJeremy · 2013-02-12 05:52 · Score: 2

...I have a burning urge to repackage my current apps and make a few special for this phone, and charge $599 per app.
WVGA? by sanosuke001 · 2013-02-12 06:00 · Score: 1

Why the hell would a $10,000 phone only have a WVGA display? (800x480) That is beyond ridiculous.

--
-SaNo
Sailfish or Ubuntu OS by gmuslera · 2013-02-12 06:04 · Score: 1

That would be nice OSs for luxury phones. Noone else would be able to have those OSs for months, they could probably be able to run android apps to have enough apps to play before having a strong native app base, and the owners would have nice set of new gestures to answer people that shows some particular gesture to them.
10 grand for ICS? by tom229 · 2013-02-12 06:08 · Score: 2

Does it have CM10 support?

--
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Ten Grand for a Phone? by Westwood0720 · 2013-02-12 06:59 · Score: 3, Funny

I could buy 20 of my pickup trucks for that much. I must be out of touch with reality.
Better to get an iPhone with a $10,000 case by gig · 2013-02-12 07:25 · Score: 1

You're going to spend $10,000 on a phone that doesn't have a video editor? That can't run C apps? That has viruses (and in fact has more viruses than apps?)
Better to get an iPhone and a $10,000 diamond-encrusted case.
Cheap thanks to Open Source by puddingebola · 2013-02-12 08:18 · Score: 1

And thanks to open source none of that $10,000 price is due to software licensing for Android.
Black card owners already have a concierge by loufoque · 2013-02-12 08:33 · Score: 1

So having a concierge with the phone is useless.
TEN GRAND?! by Anonymous Coward · 2013-02-12 08:40 · Score: 1

how long is the contract to get it FREE?
For people with money and no taste by DrXym · 2013-02-12 09:04 · Score: 1

It's too bad some of the money doesn't go into creating an elegant design - they look ugly as fuck. People who buy these might be advertising their wealth but they're also advertising the fact they have very poor taste.
Android Market Share Reached 75% .. by dgharmon · 2013-02-12 09:27 · Score: 1

According to new figures released from analyst firm IDC, Android shipments reached 136 million units in Q3 2012, which accounts for 75% of the 181.1 million shipments during the quarter. Or, as IDC puts it,

"the Android operating system was found on three out of every four smartphones shipped during the third quarter of 2012". link

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AccountKiller
saphire screen by Chirs · 2013-02-12 11:39 · Score: 1

It would totally rock to have a saphire screen. No need to worry about screen protectors.
1. Re:saphire screen by MurukeshM · 2013-02-12 18:39 · Score: 1
  
  Have you never heard of gorilla glass? it's almost as good and a metric fuckton cheaper.
  Emphasis mine. Going from 99.9% to 99.99% costs a metric fuckton less than going from 99.99% to 99.999%.
alternate definition by Chirs · 2013-02-12 11:43 · Score: 1

The alternate definition of "nubile" is "sexually attractive young woman".
6700 pounds by ILongForDarkness · 2013-02-12 16:28 · Score: 1

If you can afford that for a phone you'll probably want to replace next year you can afford a couple Indian developers to make whatever apps you want.