Armani teams with Microsoft, designs phone

Derek Brush (lordbean) Giorgio Armani designs phone with Samsung, teams with Microsoft to run Windows Mobile 6.5

October 12, 2009 11:47 PM ET in News, , , , ,

windows-mobile-logoFamous fashion designer Giorgio Armani has designed a phone with a little help from Samsung, and paired with Microsoft to release it.

The phone uses Microsoft’s freshly-minted Windows Mobile 6.5 and, with a price tag of $1000, is touted as being “perfect for managers.” The phone has a 5 megapixel camera, a touch screen, and a full QWERTY keyboard.

The newest phone is the third in a line of collaborations between the designer and Samsung. A YouTube video of the launch is available.

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38 Comments:

  1. Gnome Queen
    13 Oct '09, 12:10 am

    Wow, a semi steam punk phone! I am a fan, though not of the price tag. It would be cool though, if more cell phone makers started making phones in a wider variety of styles.

  2. Thrax
    13 Oct '09, 12:15 am

    Style is a matter of practicality. A phone's form is almost entirely dictated by its functions... How big is the screen? What wireless radios? How many keys? The shell has to fit, and there's virtually no wiggle room.

  3. Gnome Queen
    13 Oct '09, 12:29 am

    I totally see what you're saying, but I think that a few changes could me made with minimal impact on functionality.

  4. Gnome Queen
    13 Oct '09, 12:38 am

    But then again, I suppose that since that mostly hasn't happened, perhaps there isn't a demand for it. I would be excited by the prospect of a more stylized phone, but I may very well be in the minority.

  5. primesuspect
    13 Oct '09, 1:40 am

    Some people just like bling

    even at the * gasp * cost of functionality

  6. Gnome Queen
    13 Oct '09, 1:42 am

    I once covered a cell phone in rhinestones, I won't lie.

  7. Snarkasm
    13 Oct '09, 7:45 am

    I don't see any steampunk. I see what looks startlingly like a Touch Pro2 with some gilded edges.

  8. Gnome Queen
    13 Oct '09, 8:36 am

    Yea, the article used the term "steampunk,", but it's not especially. I has disappoint.

  9. AlexDeGruven
    13 Oct '09, 9:31 am
    Quoting Snarkasm

    I don't see any steampunk. I see what looks startlingly like a Touch Pro2 with some gilded edges.

    This is what I'm seeing, too. It looks like Samsung built their own TP2. The only real difference I can see is the AMOLED display, and the possible capacitive glass touchscreen, which has been showing up on some of the new 6.5 devices.

    Otherwise: Meh. Sticking with the Hero when I upgrade in December.

  10. QCH
    13 Oct '09, 9:45 am

    I am buying the My Touch (T-Mobile) for my daughter and she LOVES the idea she can design her own skins and they are fairly cheap to buy. She liked the phone because of the idea of designing the cover... then I made he go play with one. Now she LOVES the phone. I'm not sure she would have been a fan if the phone sucked but the designing aspect sure made the choice easier.

  11. WhiteGoblin
    13 Oct '09, 9:56 am

    Double "with" in the article title.

  12. Thrax
    13 Oct '09, 10:05 am

    Thanks. -ed

  13. Snarkasm
    13 Oct '09, 10:42 am
    Quoting AlexDeGruven

    Otherwise: Meh. Sticking with the Hero when I upgrade in December.

    Just got a Hero. In the few hours I've played with it, I like it a lot. I'm hoping to find the firmware update and play with that before I get too much invested in it.

  14. Annes
    13 Oct '09, 10:53 am

    I can't believe you have to watch a youtube video to see it. They couldn't of grabbed a screenshot for the article?

    Also, like Snarky, I am completely underwhelmed.

  15. Thrax
    13 Oct '09, 10:56 am

    YouTube screencaps look like shit.

  16. QCH
    13 Oct '09, 11:01 am

    I am interested in a touch screen WITH qwerty keyboard and motion sensing like the iPhone.

  17. Thrax
    13 Oct '09, 11:20 am

    ^ This. If HTC develops a G1 with a bigger screen and no hardware limitations, I'm bailing on AT&T to whomever has the phone.

  18. ardichoke
    14 Oct '09, 5:50 pm
    Quoting Thrax

    ^ This. If HTC develops a G1 with a bigger screen and no hardware limitations, I'm bailing on AT&T to whomever has the phone.

    Does it have to be HTC? I've heard really good things about the upcoming Motorola Cliq.

  19. Thrax
    14 Oct '09, 6:00 pm

    I could be persuaded.

  20. ardichoke
    14 Oct '09, 6:37 pm

    Hey, I'm no sales person, but what I've read about the Cliq has been massively good. The device is looking awesome enough that one of my coworkers is breaking his "never have a cell phone contract" rule just to get the discount on one.

  21. Thrax
    14 Oct '09, 6:42 pm

    Who knows. My contract comes up next August. We'll see what's on the market then, eh?

  22. ardichoke
    14 Oct '09, 6:44 pm

    Oh wow... by next August you should have a plethora of Android devices to choose from at this rate.

  23. Thrax
    14 Oct '09, 6:45 pm

    Exactly. Cannot wait.

  24. Annes
    14 Oct '09, 10:53 pm
    Quoting Thrax

    Exactly. Cannot wait.

    I feel the same. I can't wait to ditch AT&T like a bad habit. I by no means have iPhone loyalty - it's just the phone that fits my needs right now. Give me an Android phone on a non-laughable (for this area) network and no absolutely crippled hardware (no headphone jack!?) and I am on it.

  25. AlexDeGruven
    14 Oct '09, 10:57 pm

    Thrax, have you checked out the Samsung Moment? Was just announced last week for sure. Was originally going to be released as the InstinctQ, but I think they wanted to distance themselves a bit from the glorified-dumbphone territory that the Instinct currently lives in.

    Launch date of Nov 1 on Sprint.

    Now I'm in a dilemma. I love the Hero. It's HTC, it has a 5MP camera, and it's keyboardless (I've been without a hardware keyboard for 2 years now, and haven't really missed it). But now that I've seen the specs on the Moment: 3.5MP camera, 800MHz processor, and slide-out keyboard, I'm not really sure.

  26. Thrax
    14 Oct '09, 11:13 pm

    The Moment looks like a nice phone, yeah, I saw it on BGR when it first leaked.

    I will say that QWERTY + touch is absolutely critical to me. I will not buy an all-touch phone. I just won't. I want a hardware keyboard for typing, and a touchscreen for navigation/clicking. That cuts everything HTC makes/has planned beyond the G1 right off the table.

    I also don't want WinMo or Symbian at all, which lops most of the rest of the touch+QWERTY phones off of my options list.

    My pipedream is a G1 with a bigger capacitive, multi-touch AMOLED screen, the same keyboard, thinner profile, EVDO (preferred), WiFi, Android, and a 3.5mm jack. If I could get that next August, I would hit it like the fist of an angry god.

    I also know that I'm bailing on AT&T. Their network is fucking terrible, and it's never going to get better. I also know that they won't go Android until their iPhone cashcow runs its course (in the year 2000never), so I'm looking harder at Sprint and T-Mo every day. Sprint's new $70 unlimited everything package is hot shit.

  27. Thrax
    15 Oct '09, 12:14 am

    Speaking of the Motorola Cliq, Gizmodo just posted a review: Motorola Cliq review.

    In all, it looks like the phone is a bit underpowered and has some fit-and-finish issues. That's a shame as the software experience seems pretty solid. I'm not sure I'm sold by a non-standard Android install, though.

  28. NiGHTS
    15 Oct '09, 12:36 am

    I'm almost positive I'm going to pull the trigger on the Motorola Droid when it's released within the next 2-4 weeks. I've been doing month-to-month on VZW waiting to see what was in the pipeline, and I am happy I waited.

  29. ardichoke
    15 Oct '09, 10:48 pm
    Quoting Thrax

    Speaking of the Motorola Cliq, Gizmodo just posted a review: Motorola Cliq review.

    In all, it looks like the phone is a bit underpowered and has some fit-and-finish issues. That's a shame as the software experience seems pretty solid. I'm not sure I'm sold by a non-standard Android install, though.

    Technically any phone you buy is going to have a non-standard Android install. Android is really just the core OS. Even the google apps that ship on the G1 and other phones are "non-standard" (as was evidenced by the C&D CyanogenMod got). The only difference with the Cliq is that they added some apps and tweaked the interface a bit. I have read it can be a bit sluggish (then again, so can my G1 but I still love it).That all said, you have nearly a year to see what comes out anyway and that Samsung looks heads and tails better than the Cliq anyway. Not to mention you can buy a Samsung Galaxy unlocked off NewEgg at this point. That phone is the mother of all 'droids right now. Pity no US carrier wants to release it.

  30. Thrax
    15 Oct '09, 10:51 pm

    Holy semantics batman.

    "Android install with a few non-standard apps preloaded" vs. "Android install with a radically redesigned social networking firehose and widget system on the home screen."

    Yeah?

  31. ardichoke
    15 Oct '09, 10:57 pm

    All I'm saying is they didn't fundamentally alter Android, they just put an extra layer of icing on the cake. Hey, if you didn't like Blur you could always flash another ROM on there!

  32. Starman
    15 Oct '09, 10:58 pm

    Fuck androids.

  33. ardichoke
    15 Oct '09, 11:00 pm

    0/10

  34. Starman
    15 Oct '09, 11:12 pm

    I'll assume that means 0/10 people want to be eliminated by androids.

  35. ardichoke
    15 Oct '09, 11:16 pm
    Quoting Starman

    I'll assume that means 0/10 people would be fooled by your attempted troll.

    fix't

  36. Starman
    15 Oct '09, 11:19 pm

    In order to attempt to troll, I'd have to do something to get people riled up. I'm sure everyone here is smart enough to know I wasn't serious.

  37. lunchb0x
    15 Oct '09, 11:19 pm

    amidoinitrite?

  38. Starman
    15 Oct '09, 11:20 pm

    Wait, actually, your fix of my quote would mean it was your attempt to troll. Now I'm confused.

Troll-free since 2003 ®