Vertu has announced that it'll be bringing its brutally excessive hardware to Japan this December, when the very first Vertu boutique in the country opens in Tokyo's Ginza district. The first phone to be offered there will presumably be the Signature S Design offered on NTT DoCoMo or Softbank, thanks to its 3G radio and an OLED display that might (emphasis on "might") stop the meagerly-spec'd handset from getting laughed out of a country where WVGA displays and one-seg tuners are the norm. Of course, Vertu has never pretended to be on top of the tech game -- with those guys, it's all about the precious metals and gems you can cram in there -- and it sounds like they'll be offering gold and platinum variants (among others) that range between ¥890,000 and ¥5,000,000 (about $8,400 to $47,400). If you're nowhere near Ginza, don't worry; other Vertu shops are expected across Japan next year.

[Via Unwired View]

Shortly after seeing an all new Vertu hit the FCC, in flies word confirming that the handset maker may actually sell quite a few (by its standards). According to a new report from ABI Research, the annual global revenue for opulent cellphones will exceed $41 billion next year and surpass $43 billion by 2013. This year, just under 6 million "luxury handsets" are expected to be sold (what exactly defines "luxury?"), with Western Europe leading the way in demand, followed by North America and Asia. Of course, the writeup also asserts that sales of these kinds will remain extraordinarily low compared to all those free-on-contract sets, but don't be surprised to see a few new faces (and their accompanying mobiles) at this year's debutante ball.

Tycoons of the world, get out your pocketbooks. Actually, wait, scratch that -- kick back, relax, and let your butler do it for you, because Vertu has a new multi-thousand dollar toy for your enjoyment. The FCC has revealed that Nokia's ultra-luxe division has finally updated its flagship Signature model to include 3G, and they've taken the opportunity to completely redesign it to make it slimmer, hotter, and presumably, pricier than ever before. The all-new Signature features quadband EDGE, HSDPA on the 850 and 2100MHz bands, and WiFi -- a Vertu first -- which means we should probably expect a fabulous browser to go with that generously-proportioned OLED display. Well, we can't, since we'll never get closer than a thick sheet of security glass to this thing -- but someone can.

Update: The phone's officially been unveiled on Vertu's site as the Signature S Design, hitting a boutique you can't get into unless you're dressed to impress near you come next month.

It seems that Nokia's luxury brand Vertu has finally decided to take a bold leap into the 21st century with its top-of-the-line Signature series, blessing it with a refreshed design, 3G for the very first time (though not the first time for a Vertu), and -- get this -- WiFi. That should all make for a candybar that even the peasant technophiles among us can appreciate, especially when you factor in the extra little tidbit that it's apparently sporting an OLED QVGA display (not unlike the just-introduced Nokia N85). We haven't seen anything super official on this yet, but everything jibes: the Signature is long, long overdue for a thorough overhaul, and both WiFi and IECEE certifications exist for a recently-approved RM-266V (historically, Vertus have rocked Nokia model codes with "V" tacked on the end). Of course, unless you wear a monocle, odds are you can't afford this -- but if you do happen to wear a monocle, we'd really like to see.

[Via friedblogs]

Read - WiFi interoperability certificate
Read - IECEE certification

It's one thing to buy a Chinese impression of a Nokia candybar -- you know, something only the fanboys will notice as out of place. It's another to fool only yourself by opting for this over the real deal. The Vertu Ascent Ferrari clone operates on GSM networks and features a 1.8-inch 220 x 176 resolution display, USB connector, 128MB of internal storage, support for MP3 ringtones and MMS capabilities (take that, iPhone!). Excuse us, we're feeling a little sick from staring at this abomination...

Even very recently, Vertu's had no problem milking its older models endlessly with ultra-limited-run special editions -- a shame, really, considering that they've had the 3G-capable Ascent Ti in the stable since last year. If you're going to spend thousands (sometimes, tens or hundreds of thousands) of dollars on a ridiculously over-the-top handset, it may as well at least ride the UMTS wave, yeah? Finally, the wealthy have an opportunity to have their cake and eat it too thanks to the Nokia division's new Checked and Knurled versions of the Ascent Ti, which as you might guess, are checked and knurled, respectively. It might be more than a gimmick, too, since they're probably easier to keep a grip on than the standard model -- so whip out those checkbooks, clumsy rich people.

[Via Crave]

You know how it goes -- when you're this high-end, don't even bother waiting for your bestest of friends to toss you a birthday party to celebrate ten years of mindless self indulgence. Instead, Vertu's doing the only thing it really can by cranking out a fashionable new collection to commemorate its decennial anniversary. The Constellation Rococo collection was reportedly inspired by "the eighteenth century French art, fashion and interior design movement by the same name," and if you're into floral patterns, bold colors and monogrammed Vs, you're sure to fall head over heels for this lot. Rest assured, however, that the epicurean handset maker won't be giving these away as gifts (or anything close to it) when they land this summer.

Well, this is just a little self-indulgent, is it not? Everyone's favorite purveyor of unapologetically overpriced handsets is celebrating its tenth birthday this year (holy cow, has it seriously been that long?) and to commemorate the occasion in style, it's launching a series of Constellations in a "Monogram Collection." Here's the catch, though: the phones can't be monogrammed with their owners' initials. Oh, no, that would be uncouth. Instead, the phones bear Vertu's own "V" logo emblazoned repeatedly across their rarified hides in some sort of process that takes several hours to complete. They'll be available come April 1 in Pewter, Green, Red, Sky Blue, and Cerise -- and unlike their launch date, their stratospheric price tags will sadly be no joke.

Stainless steel, gold -- how is one exceptionally well-to-do individual to decide? Now one doesn't have to, all thanks to Vertu's Mixed Metal edition of the Constellation. While lacking the 3G data of its Ascent Ti cousin, the Constellation at least has the common decency to rock four bands of GSM reception plus EDGE data, giving users at least a fleeting hope of exploiting the phone's customized version of S40 to its fullest. Then again, virtually anyone within Vertu's target demo couldn't care less about the radio or the operating system; in this rarified air, it's all about the preciousness of the metals, and this particular version of the Constellation seems to deliver by mixing in gold accents (real gold, naturally) with the stainless steel theme. Interested parties should tap their Swiss accounts or prepare to sell their souls, firstborns, or some combination therewith.

[Via Sybarites, thanks JW]

Okay, Vertu, we get it, neither you nor your customers give a flip about staying even remotely up on technology. If you did, you'd stop selling the Signature, a model that's been kicking around since the company itself. Anyway, for the technologically illiterate fashionista with absolutely, positively nothing better to do with that aluminum briefcase full of unmarked, non-sequential $100's, Vertu presents the "Black & White Diamonds" version of the same old Signature candybar featuring 644 white diamonds paired with 428 of the black variety. Personally, we'd gladly lose a couple hundred of those diamonds in exchange for even just a quadband radio, EDGE data, and a 2 megapixel camera -- but then again, if you're the celebrity, what do you need a cam in your phone for?

[Thanks, JW]

See, here's the thing about Vertu phones: anyone who's wealthy enough to afford one probably wants (and can afford) more than one, probably doesn't care about newfangled goodies like 3G or a large, high resolution display, and probably keeps a Ferrari or two in the garage. On that note we give you the "Ascent Ferrari 60," the Nokia division's second Ferrari-themed handset. Unlike the first -- which happened to also be an Ascent -- the Ferrari 60 features a shift gate on its posterior instead of a brake pedal, which clearly makes it worth the €18,000 (about $25,370) asking price. Of course, that hefty cost of admission also nets you an elaborately fashioned storage box, a Vertu Aerius headset, and an actual valve out of a Ferrari F1 car, so the 60 lucky sons of guns that grab this thing are in for a treat (if valves and outdated Bluetooth headsets are your thing). Check it out at Nokia's London, Paris, Singapore, and Hong Kong locations.

[Via Autoblog, thanks Kane]

Read - Sybarites
Read - Reuters

Vertu has finally seen fit to bump one of its out of the ballpark expensive sets into the 3G world, welcome the Vertu Ascent Ti, 'bout time we say, bout time. Featuring a casing "forged" from solid titanium, a "floodlit" keypad, 4GB of internal storage -- and with the 3 megapixel autofocus cam, you'll need that space -- UMTS in the 2100Mhz range, and a design strikingly similar to all other Vertu handsets, so if you're in the market for Vertu love, now's the time to strike. We dig these handsets only because of the untouchable status the pricing scheme puts them in. Oh, and as per usual, no dollar details are listed, but they should be in the shops any day now.

[Thanks, Egor L]

You've gotta give credit to Vertu for maximizing the life of its Signature and Ascent models by tweaking colors and precious metals ad nauseam, but at some point, you knew they had to just gut the thing and start anew. This here "Ascent Ti" just passed through the FCC, taking the Ascent formula and updating key specs to bring the luxury phone well into 2007. Namely, the Ascent Ti offers UMTS 2100 (for 3G data pretty much everywhere but here), a whopping 3 megapixel autofocus camera with flash, and what appears to be a well-updated, Vertu customized build of Series 40. No word on release date, but unless your last name happens to be "Rockefeller," you may need the time to save the dough anyway.

Being that the economy seems to be doing quite well over in Japan these days, it follows logic that Vertu would offer up its pricey wares for the affluent on that side of the world, too. Apparently, Vertu is working with Nokia to develop a W-CDMA handset for use in Japan, but details beyond that are few and far between. Thankfully, we do know not to get our hopes up before the fall of 2008, but hopefully we'll find out exactly what phone(s) will be headed to the Land of the Rising Sun -- along with the lofty pricetags that will surely accompany them -- a few months prior to launch.

[Via Slashphone]