diamond

Diamonds are a Lotus' best friend

Lotus is taking the idea of its diamond (or 60th) anniversary a little too seriously, releasing a diamond-encrusted version of its Europa sports car. Now, if you're imagining the Europa with a body comprised of the hardest substance known to man, the car doesn't go that far. It merely has diamonds set in the shifter (ouch!), the switchgear, the instruments, and the hood badge.

The car also gets a special paint job which, according to Lotus, gives "the appearance the car has been showered with diamonds." But Lotus actually mixed glass flakes into the paint to … Read more

Vertu phones dripping in jewels mark a big birthday

To celebrate its 150th anniversary, House of Boucheron, the posh French creator of jewelry, watches, and fragrances, is sharing the swankness with a set of Vertu bejeweled cell phones bearing names such as Magic, Audacious, Curious, and Voluptuous.

The Dangerous model (aptly named, as you wouldn't want to whip this one out on the Metro), for example, is a pink-gold phone with paved cabochon, white and yellow diamonds, rubies, and sapphires.

Maybe the fact that the cell phone charms are detachable and can also be worn as pendants or dangled as glittery hypnosis tools will help justify the cost. (… Read more

Sprint HTC Touch Diamond outed early

While the official announcement wasn't supposed to cross the wires till next week, The Wall Street Journal went early with its story (please don't get me started on this) and published a review of the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint.

Yes, that's right. The Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is officially part of the Sprint family; not that it was a complete surprise. The HTC Touch Diamond, as well as the HTC Touch Pro (no announcement on this model yet), were long rumored for a CDMA carrier months before Wednesday's early coming-out party. So now that the floodgates are open, here is what we know.

There are a number of differences between the Sprint HTC Touch Diamond and the unlocked version we reviewed in late June. First, it sports a purple/burgundy backplate to add more flash to an already sexy phone. The smartphone is also a smidge thicker and heavier at 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by 0.6 inch deep and 4.1 ounces, but keeps the same 2.8-inch, 262,000-color TFT touch screen.

Of course, one of the highlights of the HTC Touch Diamond is the TouchFLO 3D interface, which provides a toolbar along the bottom of the screen where you can move left to right with the swipe of your finger to launch applications. Sprint's version is optimized so that you can access things like live TV, weather, e-mail, photos, contacts, and more.

In addition to the toolbar, there are several programs, such as e-mail, the camera, and music, where you can go flip through your files and messages by swiping your thumb/finger up or down the screen with a cool animated 3D effect.

Moving on to the features, the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional Edition, but rather than being content with the standard Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, the smartphone also ships with Dataviz's Documents to Go Suite and the Opera Web browser. We're sure many will be pleased with inclusion of these applications, which are arguably more robust than the former. Wireless options include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (with A2DP support), EV-DO Rev. A, and GPS with support for Sprint Navigation. … Read more

Down the line: Smartphones

iPhone, schmiPhone. Now wait, don't go calling me an iPhone hater because I'm not. I'm just saying that there are a lot of other hot smartphones out there that deserve as much attention as Apple's starlet, and I've rounded up five of the hottest models.

Whether you're into the BlackBerry Bold or the Samsung Omnia, this group represents some of the most popular and highly anticipated smartphones this year.

I get a lot of reader e-mail wondering about their availability date, pricing, and so on, so I thought I'd try to kill five … Read more

FCC gives HTC Touch Diamond, Touch Pro thumbs-up

Yesterday, it was the RIM BlackBerry Bold, today it's the HTC Touch Diamond and the HTC Touch Pro. Both Windows Mobile smartphones got FCC approval today, and it looks like they will be headed to a CDMA carrier as rumored. No word on when and whether it will be Sprint or Verizon Wireless, or both. At least, it's a light at the end of the tunnel.

[Source: Engadget Mobile]

iPhone wannabes or smart alternatives? You decide

CORRECTION July 9 at 10:48 a.m. PDT: This article misstated the BlackBerry Bold's display type. It does not have a touch screen. The story has been updated to reflect this change.

Apple's iPhone 3G hits store shelves on Friday, but if you haven't been struck with iPhone fever, don't fret. There are plenty of alternatives that offer similar style and features. And they may even be easier on your wallet in the long run.

To some Apple fans, phones such as the Samsung Instinct or the HTC Diamond are simply iPhone wannabes. But to … Read more

Smartphone rumors for everyone

It's summertime and things are heating up, and we don't necessarily mean the temperature (because it certainly isn't very hot here in San Francisco, but I digress). No, we're talking more about rise in smartphone rumors, which isn't uncommon for this time of year as the carrier's start prepping for the fall and holiday seasons. As such, the blogosphere is blowing up with speculation, and looks like there's something for every carrier. Now, we must reiterate that these are just rumors and obviously, the service providers and device manufacturers haven't confirmed anything, … Read more

iDiamond earphones for pampered aural canals

The only thing good we can think of saying about these earphones is that they're not caked with Swarovski crystals. After all, if you're going to shell out $6,400 for a pair of buds, the least they can do is give you the real thing.

These "iDiamond luxury earphones from designer Thomas Heyerdahl are made of white gold and 204 diamonds, according to Luxurylaunches. Only a thousand of them will be produced, which may still be several hundred more than needed to meet the demand. But if you're one of those who are intent on … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 741: 3Gasm

All the iPhone and App Store news you can shake a stick at. Plus, RIM and Palm say they're thrilled about the new iPhone. Huh. Us, too! But it's a delayed, uh, 3Gasm, since the phone won't be coming out until July 11. In other news, Amazon broke itself, the MPAA wants to break your movie recording, and SanDisk kills the TakeTV and Fanfare less than a year after it was born. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 741

Live blog: Steve Jobs at WWDC 2008 http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-9960064-37.html

What’s good for … Read more