Top luxury phones money can buy

The luxury-phone segment seems to be getting hotter. Gone are the days when you had only a Nokia Vertu in the 'posh' category. Today, almost all major mobile phone companies have an offering for this ‘upmarket'.

In fact, many of these companies have joined hands with top designers like Prada, Armani and even high-end car manufacturer Ferrari for these topline phones.

Dazzling both in terms of features as well as looks, these phones are just the right gadget for those who want to make a style statement.

Here's a look into some recent launches in this `exclusive' category.

Korean giant Samsung recently unveiled its luxury phone, Emporio Armani Night, designed by fashion stylist Giorgio Armani. Samsung M7500 is a successor to Samsung P520, the Samsung Armani phone launched last year.

Samsung Armani M7500 comes with flashy set of LEDs which are embedded at the sides of the handset. The phone's features include quadband GSM support, HSDPA, 3.2 megapixel auto-focus camera, Bluetooth with A2DP, microSD card support and an integrated FM radio.

The candybar M7500 has a 2.2-inch OLED display and is 12mm thin. It comes with brushed-metal casing. The phone is expected to hit the European market in November and next year in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. No pricing details are available.

Nokia recently updated its Arte series with the launch of a luxury model Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte.

The phone boasts of a luxury casing made up of carbon fibre, polished glass and titanium.

The phone supports tri-band GSM (900/1800/1900MHz), with UMTS (2100MHz) for European 3G networks. With 4GB of internal storage, the phone packs Bluetooth A2DP, 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera and photo editing suite.

Last year, Nokia had launched two Arte models, 8800 Sapphire Arte and 8800 Arte.

US-based handset maker Motorola recently launched its latest fashion mobile phone, Motojewel. The light-weight handset with a borderless, touch-sensitive external display is likely to hit Indian market soon.

The phone has a 3D crystal-cut and mirror finish with a jewel-like design and a purple keypad. The Motojewel is equipped with a 2 megapixel camera with features like multi-shot, video capture and playback and a landscape viewfinder.

Other features include Motorola's CrystalTalk technology, Bluetooth with A2DP and Push email capability. Like the Motorola Razr, the Motojewel also has touch-sensitive media keys for controlling music player. The music player is capable of synching with Microsoft Windows Media Player 11 for updating the music library on the device.

The handset also sports a mini clutch, a small case to carry the phone.

After Prada, here's another designer phone from LG, LG Lotus. The phone, which boasts of a fold-out QWERTY keyboard, has been designed by fashion stylist Christian Siriano.

The clamshell handset comes in vibrant colours like purple with embossed flowers and satin black. Measuring 3.3 by 2.4 by 0.7 inch, LG Lotus weighs around 3.7 ounces. Offering one-click, customisable user interface, the phone gives easy access to texting, Web access, email, Sprint Navigation, Sprint TV and Sprint Music Store.

Other Key features include 2 megapixel camera with camcorder, Bluetooth 2.0 connectivity and music player with external controls. The phone comes with memory capacity of 12GB with a microSD slot.

LG Lotus will be available with Sprint from October.

Here's another luxury from LG. The successor to LG viewty, LG's 5 megapixel touchscreen phone, LG KC910 surpasses its predecessor in megapixels.

The phone comes with a 8 megapixel camera with a Xenon flash, Dolby sound for music, and DivX and XviD support for video playback. At 14mm thickness, LG claims that the phone is slimmest 8 megapixel phone in the market.

The phone boast of a 3 inch WQVGA 240x400 touch display. Other features include support for HSDPA 7.2 Mbps, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, microSD slot for up to 8GB of memory, built-in GPS and TV-out.

KC910 is a quadband GSM with support for HSDPA 7.2 Mbps.

Ultra-luxury cellphone maker Vertu has updated its flagship cellphone Vertu Signature S Design, six years after the release of the phone. The updated Signature S boasts of a new look, supports Wi-Fi and is 3G enabled.

Designed in UK, the Signature S Design is polished in 18-carat gold. Sporting a scratch-resistant sapphire OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, the phone sport a redesigned V-shaped angular keypad embedded with ruby bearings. The keypad contains 4.75 carat of solid ruby bearings.

Signature S Design supports quadband, HSDPA 3G high-speed (850/2100 MHz), and WiFi Internet functionality. It also features a specially-designed mechanism to remove the SIM card without removing the battery cover.

The luxury phone will be available in white gold, yellow gold and stainless steel. The phone's ringtones are composed for Vertu by the Academy Award winning composer Dario Marianelli. The new Signature is designed by Frank Nuovo, Vertu's designer.

Here's a luxury mobile from Sony Ericsson, Z555a.

The clamshell model boasts of a diamond design with a reflective finish on the front. The phone packs a 1.3 megapixel camera, FM radio, built-in digital camera with screen viewfinder, dedicated menu and picture blogging software. The phone comes with 12MB internal memory with support for micro stick.

Measuring 95 x 49 x 17 mm and weighing 95 grams, the phone comes in dusted rose, diamond back and linear black colours. The phone has a gesture-control feature that lets users interact without touching by simply moving a hand over the phone to mute an incoming call or snooze the alarm.