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BlackBerry Porsche Design P'9981 hands-on (video)
Porsche Design's executives use BlackBerry religiously, so when the time came for the luxury brand to consider adding smartphones to its portfolio, Research in Motion was a natural -- and perfect -- fit. Problem is, BlackBerry phones don't necessarily exude the luxury look and feel necessary to attract Porsche Design's customer base, so CEO Juergen Gessler got in touch with RIM to see if the two companies could collaborate on a phone that would take the best of BlackBerry and combine it with Porsche's premium design. Presto, the device now known as the P'9981 was born. We had the chance to behold the phone with our own eyes and hold it in our hands, so go past the break to read more about what we thought.
Porsche Design theme ported to BlackBerry 9900 / 9930, saves you a small fortune
If you want some of that Porsche Design look, without the German engineered price, then check what just pulled up on the driveway: a port of the custom theme and icons. Sadly, only BlackBerry 9900 / 9300 owners -- which share much of the same hardware as the P'9981 -- running BlackBerry OS7 (not 7.1) can give their handset that new car smell. This means the sharp lines and luxurious brushed finish that made the P'9981 catch our eye in the first place will remain firmly in those pockets deep enough to afford it. Tap the source link if you still want to add the racing stripes to your current saloon.
Harrods reportedly nabs Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry as UK exclusive, costs a princely £1,275
The department store Harrods is no stranger to exposing Londoners to some of the finer -- and more eccentric -- things in life, and so after learning that it'd be bringing RIM's Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry to its shelves as a UK exclusive, we couldn't help but smile with curiosity. While we've yet to see anything official come across the wires, it's reported that this sexy slab of unlocked goodness will retail for £1,275 and hit stores before the month's end. We've attempted to confirm these details with RIM's UK group but, as it turns out, Brits like going home early on Friday, too.
Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry provides a long-awaited design jolt, compensates for a lot
Remember that downright futuristic BlackBerry we spied back in September? Say hello, all over again. RIM and Porsche (of all companies) have just taken the official wraps off of the Porsche Design P'9981 BlackBerry, a frighteningly beautiful new slab that offers up a forged stainless steel frame, hand-wrapped leather back cover, sculpted QWERTY keyboard, and "crystal clear touch display." It'll ship with an exclusive Porsche Design UI and a bespoke Wikitude World Browser augmented reality app experience, not to mention the "premium, exclusive PINs that help easily identify another P'9981 smartphone user." Fancy. As for specs, it's boasting a 1.2GHz processor, HD video recording capabilities, 8GB of onboard memory, Liquid Graphics technology, a microSD expansion slot, an inbuilt NFC module and BlackBerry OS 7. We're told that it'll be available from Porsche Design stores later this year, but mum's the word on the (presumably stratospheric) price. Head past the jump for T-break's hands-on vid. Update: MobileSyrup reports that the device shown here will sell for "around $2,000," and they'll be (unsurprisingly) limited in quantity. %Gallery-137690%
LaCie introduces Porsche-designed, aluminum-framed USB 3.0 HDDs
LaCie, a company that's no stranger to employing aluminum and high profile designers on its external storage drives, is back at it today with the announcement of a pair of new HDDs. The P9220 Mobile and P9230 Desktop drives -- one's thin and portable, the other's chunkier and stores more data, guess which is which -- harness the creative minds at Porsche Design to deliver... well, some pretty tamely designed peripherals. We guess it's all about minimalism and letting the scratch-resistant aluminum casing speak for itself, but we still kinda feel like the Porsche guys did this on a Thursday lunch break. As simple as it is, the look of these drives still managed to impress the guys at CrunchGear, whose hands-on coverage can be read at the link provided below. If you want to get to grips with one yourself, the P9220 starts out at £89.90 ($105 in US) for 500GB and will also have a 1TB option soon, whereas the P9230 costs £99.90 / $120 for a terabyte or £129.90 / $160 for two -- all come with USB 3.0 connectivity and the pride-stroking knowledge that you own a legitimate Porsche.
Porsche Design working hard for the money, brings back P'9522 in black
More than a year after releasing the P'9522, you'd think that Porsche Design would have something a little more... well, Porsche up its sleeve than just another color, but make no mistake: this latest incarnation of the pricey candybar is nothing more than a repainted version of the original. As a refresher, it's got a 5 megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi, microSD expansion, a 2.8-inch display (they make it look bigger than that in the press shot, don't they?) and a fingerprint scanner up front to make sure the baddies don't get all up in your business should the phone get stolen. For a company so steeped in the tradition of speed, you'd think they'd at least have taken the opportunity to add in 3G, but alas, this handset's fast in name only. Anyhow, you should be able to pick up this remixed version now in overpriced boutiques around the globe.
Porsche Design P'9522 gets a little FCC love
Porsches have a reputation for being... well, fast. So isn't it just a little ironic that the Porsche Design P'9522 from Sagem is anything but? As usual, Europe gets the 3G action on this one -- but sadly, the FCC only needs to worry about GSM 850 / 1900, because that's all Sagem saw fit to give Americans. Normally we'd shake it off and move on without a second thought, but Porsche Design handsets don't come along every day -- and with that huge display and the fingerprint sensor front and center, the P'9552's pretty dang handsome -- so we're gonna spend at least a good 10, 15 minutes sulking over this one.
Sagem valiantly returns with Porsche Design P'9522
Not even two full months after Sagem fell into the obviously capable hands of Sofinnova, out pops the company's return to the red carpet. Picking right up (numerically speaking, at least) where the P'9521 left off is the well-endowed P'9522, which was reportedly built with a little help from Porsche Design. The candybar features an aluminum chassis, 2.8-inch display, 5-megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi, fingerprint reader and a microSD card slot. Unfortunately, the fun and games end there, as there's no 3G radio anywhere to be found; plus, you'll be asked to lay down about €600 ($875) to acquire one when it ships next month. Loyalty has its price, we guess.
Porsche Design P'9521, now with more white
For most of us, the Porsche Design P'9521 is hard enough to find as it is -- but throw a limited edition into the mix, and, well, you have a very special phone indeed. The P'9521 is being re-clad in a rather striking white as part of the design firm's Pearl White Collection being launched in Taiwan this month, and the privilege of adding this one to your stable will run a mere 62,800 Taiwan dollars -- about $2,063. Pricey, yes, but at least Porsche has the common decency to throw in a 2GB microSD card and the reassurance that the odds of running into another P'9521 Pearl White user are nearly zero.[Via Slashphone]
Navigon's Porsche Design P9611 finally zooms past the FCC
We got our first glimpse of this one in August of 2006, with hopes for a release that November. More than a year later we're not exactly sure it's been worth the wait -- there's plenty of good-looking GPS kit these days at half the price -- but if you've still got $900 burning a hole in your pocket, Navigon's Porsche Design P9611 GPS unit just hit the FCC, which hopefully means it's not far from store shelves. Too bad 4.3-inches of 480 x 272 touchscreen, a 520MHz XScale processor and Bluetooth hands-free don't sound all that luxurious anymore.[Via Mobilewhack; thanks Sandeep]
Porsche swerves to the power tool realm with P'7911 Multihammer
We've noticed that the folks at Porsche Design have been branching out to new endeavors of late, but this joint venture takes brand extension to an entirely new level. The group has apparently partnered with Germany's Metabo to unveil the Multihammer P'7911 power drill, which "combines all the essential functions of a drill with the power of a pneumatic hammer," sports a carbon fiber / aluminum housing, and includes an impeccably balanced grip that makes this bad boy easier to handle. The 705-watt device has no problem with scratches here and there from drilling through concrete, stone, wood, and steel, and the five different function settings allow you to tweak the tool for the job at hand. No word just yet regarding the (presumably lofty) price, but be sure to leap on through to see this luxury power tool hard at work.[Via Sybarites]
Porsche Design's P9611 sat nav is real, coming November
The rumors that Porsche Design was contributing to the design of a satellite navigation system have turned out to be true (don't you just love it when that happens?) now that Navigon has shown off the device at the IFA. The specifications are almost identical to the rumor, with the device featuring a 4.3-inch 480 x 272 pixel 16:9 display, a 520MHz XScale processor, a dedicated graphics processor, 64MB of RAM / ROM, an SD / MMC slot, a Bluetooth hands-free kit, and a removable battery, all running on Windows CE. The system will warn the driver of radar speed traps and of traffic in the 37 mapped European countries, and will even play MP3s -- albeit on the undoubtedly tinny speakers. The only downsides appear to be the roughly $960 price tag and the weak USB 1.1 support, but if you can cope with these niggles then keep your eyes open during November, because that's when it's expected to ship.
Porsche Design working on a GPS receiver?
We've seen the Porsche Design team try its hand at radios already (both self-branded and in conjunction with Grundig), and now it's apparently looking to enter the GPS game with an upcoming receiver powered by Navigon software. Dutch site Pocketinfo is claiming that their mole contact inside Navigon has revealed a device known as the P9611 (supposedly standing for Porsche 911 + Mobile Navigator 6 -- seems like P9116 would make more sense, though) which features a 520MHz Xscale processor, 4.3-inch, 480 x 272 pixel display, built-in traffic update support, and even an embedded Bluetooth car kit from Parrot. Details are still pretty thin at this point, but Pocketinfo is reporting that the unit will start shipping in October, for a Porsche-like $950. Apparently the P9611 will also work in non-Porsche vehicles, but it'll be pre-programmed with the locations of all Porsche dealerships worldwide, and will beep like crazy every time you pass one until you finally cave in and pick up at least a Boxster.
