Bang & Olufsen have released a stylish cell phone, powered by Samsung, costing a whopping $1,275. The cell phone is called Serene and it is promoted more like a companion rather than an expensive phone.
The makers of chic, high range stereos, televisions and cordless phones, Bang & Olufsen, have lend a lot of their sophistication and finesse to this new phone and in collaboration with cell phone veterans Samsung have developed a truly different cell phone.
Rumors have been abuzz for a while about Apple releasing its first cell phone but nothing has been so far. So what one gets instead is “Serene” which has many iPODish qualities and features completely different from a conventional cell phone.
The difference is apparent on the outside itself. It has the shape of a trapezoidal clamshell and it is the first flip top phone with a power-assist clamshell. Another glaring departure from convention is that the screen and dialing pad have interchanged places.
It can be turned to reverse the placement and put in its charger to assume the position of a laptop and one could comfortably type text messages. However calls can be made in only the “upside down” way!
However what catches your eye are the numbers arranged in a circle. That has its advantages and disadvantages one soon discovers. Beneath the circle of numbers is an iPOD like click wheel. So to go through your menu all you need to do is zoom through. The four main parts of the circle stand for OK, Cancel, Send and End. How much more simpler can a cell phone get?
And what is a departure from a regular cell phone it takes you through the letters instead of showing you all names with a letter. So the search is faster and simpler. The disadvantage of a circular pad lies in the fact that your thumbs move around a little more and you can't dial the phone without looking at the dial.
Other mind boggling features are an amazing headphone quality sound, a camera that takes clear pictures in low resolution besides having all the regular features.
What one misses is the ability to take photos of oneself, speakerphone, video, games, inbuilt ring tones and the biggest thing an external screen. Due to the last missing feature one can't see who is calling without opening the phone.
So for all its talk of simplicity, elegance and minimalist design it does have its drawbacks. So one gets the feeling it might be overpriced for most of us.
