One unanswered question...
What's it weigh?
Nokia has announced a gold-clad smartphone for spritely spenders, where image is everything and thirst is nothing. The Nokia Oro - essentially the Nokia C7 with a gangster twist - is a phone you'd expect to find in every pimp's pocket. While Nokia has previously offered gold models of mobile phones, namely the Nokia 6700, the …
If Nokia really wanted to help the world why not create a $10 mobile for the developing world then do what the OLPC fondation did and tell consumers if you donate £100.00 to us we will give you a phone and donate 10 more to people in those countries?
I'm all for spending YOUR money on things YOU want, I don't want to teach the world to sing or anything; but surely a gold phone is just a little distasteful in the current climate? or is that the poitn? "I'm too rich to care" that sort of thing?
In any case as a long time Nokia user (2720 flip phone, my life rules) I think they should work on a legacy that doesn't focus on hopeless consumerism and get back to what they do best, insane battery life and Snake!
Yeah, what a good idea. Give the developing world mobiles. Never mind that they may not have sufficient food to eat, clean water, or electricity to charge a mobile. It doesn't matter if there is no network, or any networks are too expensive because there are few users, and lots of people have very little disposable income.
Oh apart from all that, I can (and have) already bought an LG mobile for £3 brand-new, unlocked and complete with charger.
If you want, I can buy a job-lot and sell them to you for $10 each; you can do what you want with them!
Pull up your pants, your paternalistic attitudes are showing. Who are you to decide what they spend their money on in the poorer countries, don't you think they are able to prioritize their spending?
Mobile phones are extremely popular in developing countries, and assist in not just personal communication but in development itself via mobile banking, information services etc.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6339671.stm
http://www.conversationsforabetterworld.com/2010/05/the-importance-of-the-mobile-phone-to-developing-countries/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/23/mobile-phones-key-to-deve_n_190809.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35539966/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/t/cell-phone-use-surging-developing-countries/
etc.
This should also give you some perspective when you doom Nokia saying Apple has them beat. How many trendy iPhones are you going to see among the world's poorer people?
what is the intended lifespan of this phone? I mean, it might be worth a lot but the rate functionality is evolving, it'll be obsolete in six months. I can just see you trying to brag about this down the corgi and swan and going "look it's made of gold" and getting really annyoed when some pleb goes "yeah, but has it got facebook integration" (or whatever) Surely to spend an obscene amount on a phone you want it to be ostentatious and cutting edge but it just wont be cutting edge soon and then you'll end up hating yourself for how empty you feel when you think about how your phone has betrayed you.
I suppose the rich won't care about that, they'll just get a new one
... or bloody rich like a king or something, I wouldn't simply take a phone and have it all pimped up with bling. I'd ask what I'd *really* want and have it built-up from scratch like that. Some things you just can't trust even the old nokia with; like listening to their users.
Lucky me, I've listed all the ills and failings I could find in my e52 --and yes, it's a long list-- and thought up a stack of things more I'd like to see a smartphone do. Unlucky me, I'm neither king nor rich like one, so that phone'll never get to exist. Oh well.
For the rest of you, there's apple. It's neither perfect nor anything but a walled garden, but at least you'll be frolicking and will learn to religiously love his jobsness' way. That's good for something, innit?