World's costliest smartphone is round the corner

Fancy a device -- dubbed "Rolls Royce of smartphones -- thatwill set you back by nearly $10,000 (over Rs.66 lakh)? The "most advanced mobile device with highest privacy settings" is not being built in the US or China but in a quite corner in Israel.

Called "Solarin," the high-end smartphone is set to be rolled out May-end by Sirin Labs, a Tel Aviv-based startup that recently raised $72 million to make what it bills as the "Rolls-Royce of smartphones", technology website venturebeat.com reported.

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According to Sirin Labs, it was to "create the most advanced mobile device that combined the highest privacy settings, operated faster than any other phone, built with the best materials from around the world."

The company's first smartphone may be launched at a dedicated retail store in London - "the natural home of the Sirin Labs' customer," according to the company.

The luxury smartphone is not new. In 2006, Nokia launched a $310,000 "Signature Cobra" device in 2006 and the $5,000 "Constellation" smartphone in 2011.

In 2012, Nokia dropped luxury-phone brand maker Vertu. After leaving Nokia, Vertu brought its first Android device "Vertu Ti" to market.

According to media reports, the smartphone was priced at a whopping Rs.6,49,990 in India. It has dual-core 1.7GHz processor along with 1GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.

According to Vertu, its smartphones have 184 individual parts. The body is made by Grade 5 titanium, and has a set of Bang & Olufsen stereo speakers.

The sapphire crystal renders the screen virtually scratch-proof and it is tested to be four times stronger than other smartphones in terms of impact resistance, it had claimed.

Vertu was later acquired from Swedish private equity group EQT by a consortium of Chinese investors.

According to Sirin Labs, its high-end device will first go on sale on its e-commerce site and the firm plans to open additional retail stores across Europe, North America and Asia soon.

Source: IANS