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Have you heard about rumors of a designer mobile phone worth $5,000?  Believe it or not, it is true.  French designer Christian Dior unveiled the mystery phone recently which is targeted for brand-conscious consumers in China and Russia.  The mobile phone will actually work worldwide, except for Japan and Korea which is not compatible to local wireless networks.

Dior will team up with French manufacturer ModeLabs Group SA (maker of the Hummer HT2 mobile phone)  which invested several million Euros in research and development for the new cellphone.  They expect to sell about 10,000 units in the first year with a tag price of 3,500 Euros or $5,000 each.  This is a hefty price compared to its rivals Prada, Dolce & Gabana, and Armani that released mobile phones that cost about $600.

Other then the usual features of a cellphone such as a touchscreen, ringtones, and a camera, the Dior Phone will have a mini “My Dior” which is a mini version of the phone that can be clipped to the outside of a woman’s bag and communicate with the main phone via bluetooth.  Women will not need to rummage through their bags to find the phone as “My Dior”  can pick up and make calls from outside the bag.

Actually, color and design have never been a major criteria that attracts me to any mobile phone.  I go for features, durability, quality, and connectivity.  I don’t understand where the Dior phone will get its niche, but I realize it may be a market I don’t really understand.  I know there are girls who prefer that their mobile phones look cute or classy.  But would they pay $5,000 for it?  The only reason I would be tempted to pay for a gadget as expensive as that is when it has all the features of a Macbook,  a PDA, an IPod, a digital camera, and a video camera all rolled into a decent-sized unit.

I am not familiar with ModeLabs Group, but the Hummer HT2 looks cool with its dual-sim capability.  I think I will blog about that unit in my next post.  However, if we are talking about mobile phone quality, I believe Dolce & Gabana chose a better partner in Motorola.  Prada chose LG Electronics while Nokia chose to launch its own premium line in the Vertu.

It seems that the phone will cater to a market that enjoys watching the apparel and shoes in Sex and the City rather than the ideas the series represents.  Let’s see how it goes.

Motorola was able to make make a comeback when it first released the RAZR. All of a sudden, everyone wants the thin flip phone in different colors. But when Motorola came out with the KRZR,it did not get the same response.

Now, here is a model which has the same look but at a very good price. For those who are in a tight budget but want a stylish mobile phone, the W510 may be the one that suits their needs. It is a quad band GSM phone that has an impressive battery life at 7.5 hours talk time and 350 hours standby time. Other features include an mp3 player, bluetooth technology, expandable memory through a microSD card of up to 2 GB, EDGE technology, video recording and playback, and a 1.3 megapixel camera with an 8x zoom capability.

The only setback is that it has no 3G capability, no Wi-Fi capability, and no unique features. However, considering the low price, it is still a good buy. I found this to be a very good choice for my kids. It has expandable memory that can accommodate mp3 songs, yet affordable enough as a mobile phone for kids. What I really like about it is Motorola’s Crystal Talk technology that eliminates noise and delivers clear speech even in a noisy environment. With Motorola W510, I don’t need to shout or find a quiet place to talk to someone on the other line.

For me, the Motorola W510 is good value for a good mobile phone.