Russian Mob Wives Rejoice - the Samsung Night Effect is Here!

You may notice that this blog tends to lean towards the more "blinging" phones that make it onto the market, like the LG Prada collaboration a couple of years ago and the more exclusive Nokias.

Personally, I like my handsets functional rather than flashy (hence the monolithic black N95 that I'm still using) but have always had a magpie's taste for the gaudy. This new Samsung has got to be the gaudiest handset on the market, unless anyone out there can suggest anything less conspicuous!

It rather reminds me of my time working for American Express.

American Express launched their black card after years of unfounded rumours that they offered a secret, invite-only card for superwealthy Krug-swilling plutocrats. They cashed in on the speculation and created the Centurion; the most horribly aspirational piece of plastic this side of Victoria Beckham's breasts.

One day, we recieved a memo promoting a new, super-super-luxurious version of their Centurion credit card, known only as "titanium". The gimmick was that the card is made of... titanium. And why hasn't titanium been used to make credit cards in the past? Because it interferes with card readers. And sets off metal detectors. Which makes the Amex Titanium Centurion card less useful than any other Amex card. And who accepts Amex anyway?

The Samsung Night Effect is aiming at the Titanium card users out there - those who take pleasure in pulling out their metallic phallus in front of a large queue at airport security while loudly braying to their equally loathesome, marni-clad friend about how "rad/fab/expensive" their last holiday was.

The phone's USP is that it lights up like Pacha at 4am when it rings.

Seems like the world economic crisis hasn't quite gone far enough yet...

Nokia N97 on the way

Nokia recently announced the N97, which is the latest in a long line of business phones from the Finns. The most notable thing about the handset is the great touch screen (which Nokia finally appear to have "got right") and the raft of features that put the handset up there with most mobile internet PCs like the Eee and its raft of imitators.

Nokia Maps has had an upgrade. This was perhaps inevitable, for two reasons. Firstly, people love the GPS functionality. Personally, I use Nokia maps regularly, especially when stumbling around a big city like London, or when sitting on a train and curious. The second reason for stronger GPS functionality on phones is probably more significant.

Location based mobile marketing is being touted as the "next big thing" in advertising/marketing - just ask NMA magazine (not to be confused with the rather less rock 'n roll NME). It has, of course, been touted as such for about five years but the technology is finally reaching a point where people are regularly consulting their handsets for directions. "Wow" say the marketers, "if people are looking for directions, what better time could there be to shove advertising down their throats? GO TO CAFE NERO. GO TO CAFE NERO". This is, of course, a dramatisation, but the techology is becoming more and more popular and mobile marketers are pushing clients hard to go down this route.

Back to the handset. Good camera (same as the N95), good keyboard (nicely spaced), useful tilty screen (to help with glare), good MP3 and video compatibility and 32gb of internal memory make this an attractive proposition. The digital compass is a nice touch too.

All in all, another strong offering from Nokia.

Merry Christmas!