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Samsung debuts Armani-themed 'iPhone killer' [U]

updated 02:05 pm EDT, Mon September 24, 2007

 

Armani-Samsung Phone


(Updated with launch info) Samsung today officially confirmed its collaboration with Armani to produce a new cellphone that reflects the fashion designer's sense of style. Simply called the Armani-Samsung luxury mobile phone but known internally as the P520, the device is a direct challenge to both the iPhone and LG's Prada phone with the same emphasis on a touch-driven interface. The 2.6-inch display's only physical controls on its front face are call answer and end buttons; dialing, contacts, and other data are handled exclusively through software. The black, chrome-ringed look is destined to "achieve an iconic status," Samsung claims.

Samsung did not touch on the phone's expected use of EDGE and Wi-Fi access but confirmed its media capture and playback features, including a 3-megapixel camera as well as support for audio in AAC and MP3 forms, H.264 and MPEG-4 videos, and the use of microSD for storage. Bluetooth is also expected, though whether or not stereo audio support was uncertain, based on early details.

The Armani-Samsung device is expected to launch in November through traditional phone retail stores as well as Armani's own clothiers. Pricing and availability is not fixed, though the phone should be available at least in Europe for 400 Euros ($563) and may spread to the US if EDGE is included. Armani expects to continue its teamwork and will help design an LCD TV to be launched in January.




By Electronista Staff

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  1. jarod

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Apr 2005

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    09/24, 02:29pm | report spam | reply

    LOLOLLL!!

    THATS the iPhone killer? My grandmothers rotary phone looks better than that piece of s***.


  1. Recto Bold

    Junior Member

    Joined: Feb 2005

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    09/24, 03:01pm | report spam | reply

    Hmmm

    Jarod, just listen to yourself. Are you such a chronic Apple apologist, or are you just so devoid of any idea of style that you have to refer to the phone as a "piece of s***" without even having tried one? On paper, and in the pix it looks like there's no way that will trump the iPhone, but it's not a piece of s*** now, is it? For a start, it's not bad looking and being a Samsung it'll be pretty well made and reliable. It's got a better camera than that of the iPhone and it also has removable storage, so for some people I would imagine it'll be a great bit of kit. Your kind of childish reaction is exactly the sort of thing that gives Apple enthusiasts the kind of rose tinted image that we seem to have. Grow up, FFS.


  1. BelugaShark

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    09/24, 03:23pm | report spam | reply

    RE: hmmm

    what do you know? Maybe his grandmother has a very nice rotary phone.


  1. Super Glitcher

    Dedicated MacNNer

    Joined: Aug 2003

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    09/24, 03:30pm | report spam | reply

    yeah belugashark is right

    maybe he's a princess and his grandma was a queen and maybe her rotary phone was diamond-crusted and made of platinum, gold and titanium and the ear + mouth pieces were 10" diamond-crusted spinners and maybe it had technology from venus and every time she got a phone maybe it kicked out hundred dollar bills and diamonds


  1. dpicardi

    Forum Regular

    Joined: Sep 2006

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    09/24, 03:33pm | report spam | reply

    Does it turn on?

    It would be nice to see a picture of it actually working.

    Hey, competition is good. At least the model wasn't totally ripped off of the iPhone like that other phone you posted about today.


  1. lockhartt

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    09/24, 03:34pm | report spam | reply

    not bad

    but hardly iconic... especially since the strongest design elements mentioned (black bordered by polished metal) have already become iconic of the iPhone.

    It's well made and well thought out, but it's not an iPhone-killer.


  1. dogzilla

    Grizzled Veteran

    Joined: Sep 1999

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    09/24, 03:45pm | report spam | reply

    Heh

    Seems to me that if all these products are rushing to describe themselves as "iPhone-killers", they've already pretty much lost the game. They might be better at some things, or even better at all things, but they've basically ceded the top of the mountain to the iPhone by constantly comparing themselves to it, both in marketing and in design language.

    Basically, they've admitted that the iPhone *is* iconic, and has already permanently altered how we think of cell phone design. Now all they can do is try to evolve that basic design further.

    I wouldn't be surprised to hear people describing these as "the Armani iPhone" or "the Prada iPhone". It must drive them nuts, just like Canon reps go berserk when you call their copiers "xerox machines".


  1. vasic

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    09/24, 03:51pm | report spam | reply

    agreed

    It is a great device. No doubt, it will join Prada phone and perhaps the RAZR phones as one of the most successful cellphones in history (not counting iPhone, of course).

    Having said all that, it is still just a Samsung. Just like all non-iPods that compete against each other for the remainder of the market share, so will this Samsung soon compete for the remainder of the cellphone market share, leaving iPhone to freely charge ahead, head and shoulders above the rest.


  1. vasic

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    09/24, 03:58pm | report spam | reply

    Oh, and another thing...

    For some reason, these companies continue to forget one of the top five rules for a product success: the NAME. Notice how RAZR became the wildest cellphone success before the iPhone? It had a meaningful name. The N95, the W800i (or W700i, or T610, or all those four-digit Nokias, etc) carry instantly forgettable names:

    "Is that the new CH-W3476S?" "No, it is the CH-X7756R!" "Oh, cool! Wow! My sister has a similar one; hers is CH-Y3376R, but with more memory..."

    Very simple and very effective. Which is why Apple's products are now:

    iPhone iPod (shuffle, nano, touch, classic) iMac MacBook etc, etc, etc...


  1. DCW

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2007

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    09/24, 04:19pm | report spam | reply

    One other missing fact...

    Is that this phone may/may not be Mac-compat. And even if it is, I doubt it has the tight integration that the iPhone enjoys with a Mac (or a PC, for that matter). I, for one, love how the iPhone acts as sort of a 'laptop on the go.' (I say this because I actually had my PowerBook down for three days with a burned-out DC-In Board, and the iPhone, plus my crappy work Compaq, helped me make it through). Competitors can try to kill off the iPhone (and iPod) to their hearts' content, but until they somehow unlock the magic that is the integration, I think all of these competitors are in for dull earnings. And Vasic is right about the name! "Is that the new Ch-xx"? - classic! -dcw


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