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Green robot in an Armani suit: Ulysse Nardin Chairman upgraded with Android
Alright, hot shot, so you've been pining after that impossibly expensive Ulysse Nardin Chairman -- you know, the world's first "hybrid" phone -- for nearly a year now, and the millions of dollars in those off-shore accounts of yours aren't exactly spending themselves. What's next? Well, fortunately, Ulysse Nardin and its hardware partner SCI Innovations have been locked away in the laboratory upgrading the Chairman with a fairly impressive new set of specs that includes a larger 3.2-inch touchscreen, an 8 megapixel camera (up from 5), 32GB of memory on board, "proprietary rotor improvements" for better battery life (that's something you don't hear too often when discussing a phone), and an Android core. As with the first version, the new model will be limited to just 1846 copies -- assuming there are that many people on the face of the Earth wealthy enough to afford it -- and will be available in your choice of steel, "Stealth" (which is apparently colored or blacked out, up to you), or a selection of precious metals. Of course, no luxury phone would be complete without an equally excessive charging solution, and the new Chairman delivers with a lacquered wood dock that tops off the battery while simultaneously backing up the phone's contents to an external USB drive and offering luscious, soothing sounds through a pair of Bluetooth-connected speakers. Then again, if you're ever in a position where you need that backup -- if you lost your beloved Chairman, that is -- we'd say you've got bigger problems to worry about than a little bit of data. The phone runs all the way from $12,800 for a steel version to a staggering $129,000 if you want white gold encrusted with diamonds.
Ulysse Nardin's Chairman caught in the wild!
Sure, we've seen all those purtied up renders, but what does the Ulysse Nardin Chairman look like in the flesh? Well, they're keeping it under wraps pretty tightly at BASELWORLD, not letting photographers near it, but our friendly tipster Greg's phone "accidentally" snapped a couple pictures. He says there was no way to touch it or see it in action, but he was struck by the sheer enormity of the device. We're looking forward to selling a few organs for a shot at one ourselves, but for now those two shots up top will have to suffice.[Thanks, Greg]
Ulysse Nardin Chairman "hybrid smart phone" unveiled
Yeah, we'd seen those fine mechanical workings from the back, but Ulysse Nardin has just taken the wraps of its entire Chairman handset, which they bill as a "hybrid smart phone" -- and actually seem to mean it. Ulysse Nardin surprisingly hasn't skimped on specs here, with a 2.8-inch multitouch screen, finger print reader for phone unlock, 5 megapixel camera, WiFi and the inclusion of an email app and a browser. There's also that fancy kinetic rotor system for passive charging of the phone, but no word on how much battery life that will actually get you. Ulysse Nardin is currently showing off the phone in Rose Gold, Rose Gold & Blue, Rose Gold & Steel, Stealth Black and Steel & Blue trims, so there should be plenty of options to set you apart from your other billionaire friends. The device is currently on display at BASELWORLD; no word on price, but if you have to ask...[Thanks, Stefan I.]
Ulysse Nardin's Chairman is the steampunk Prius of phones
It's not the first Swiss watchmaker to decide to get into the phone game, but Ulysse Nardin's upcoming Chairman could very well take both the "most like a watch" and "most insanely badass" crowns when it's officially unveiled at Baselworld later this month. Billed as a "hybrid smart phone," the handset -- which, we assure you, you can't afford -- will incorporate a visible, fully-functional kinetic rotor that will apparently assist in providing power, just like you might find in a mechanical wristwatch. Beyond that, we know that it'll be unlocked, will be limited to just 1,846 pieces, and that Vertu should be feeling the heat right about now. Look for full details around March 26 when Baselworld kicks off, so in the meantime, get to work selling your car, your home, your children, and your soul, but not necessarily in that order. Depends on how deeply you love your car. [Via Hodinkee and Timezone]
Original World of Warcraft team lead takes helm of Red 5 Studios
An MMO nerd logs into a bar and tells his online buddies, "Hey, did you hear Mark Kern was just appointed as the chairman and chief creative officer at Red 5 Studios?" To which they replied, "Who?" Mouth agape, the MMO nerd shoots his arms into the air and explodes with, "The dude who totally helped create World of Warcraft!" The friends look between each other, searching for a response to their fellows' immense piece of news. "Well, if he's so great, why isn't he still in charge of World of Warcraft?" they replied, satisfied with their obviously unbeatable intellectual retort.The nerd replied, "Well that's simple, he wanted a creative challenge and working on the world's most successful MMO simply wasn't enough for him." Smug with a sense of victory, the nerd logged out and prepared a post.But seriously, Mark Kern is taking lead point on development of Red 5 Studio's big secret MMO project. That means whatever game he's helping to create could be considered, in a way, as the spiritual successor to World of Warcraft.
Alcatel-Lucent's CEO and chairman to exit
Shortly after Alcatel-Lucent posted yet another quarter of net losses, two of its biggest bigwigs have decided that enough is enough. Chairman Serge Tchuruk and CEO Patricia Russo have both announced plans to exit the company, and while the former will be clocking in for the final time on October 1st, the latter has agreed to stay on until a new CEO is found. According to Tchuruk, the time has come for the outfit to "acquire a personality of its own, independent from its two predecessors." The search for replacements has already begun, though analysts assert that filling the holes won't be a lesson in simplicity. Something Motorola would likely agree with entirely.[Via RCRWireless, image courtesy of The New York Times]Read - Announcement of resignationsRead - Search for replacements
Yamauchi owns the castle the princess is in
Hiroshi Yamauchi, the previous chairman of Nintendo, has enough gold coins for a few hundred extra lives, easy. According to Forbes Asia, he is now the third richest man in Japan, after coming in at number eleven last year. His net worth is now $4.8 billion dollars. In first and second place are real estate developer Akira Mori and SoftBank Corp.'s Masayoshi Son. The huge jump in net worth is thanks to his Nintendo stock, which has tripled in the last year. It's almost as if his company did something very successful, right around the beginning of the last fiscal year. But what? Oh, if only we had some kind of handheld device we could carry around and do little brain exercises on, we'd be able to make these connections more easily. But it would have to be a nice looking gadget, and light; we're not going to carry around some bulky silver thing.[Via Game|Life]
Siemens chairman resigns amidst widespread corruption scandal
Screw getting a dollar a year salary or changing the world, the hip cool chairperson / CEO thing to do these days is resign. Perhaps for obvious reasons, or perhaps for the daunting task of getting your company back on track after major setbacks, the big wigs are falling in droves. This time around it's Siemens chairman Heinrich Pierer who's bailing, because despite the fact that he's not involved in the current embezzlement investigations, he says his duty lies with the firm and its 400k employees. He said that his (soon to be former) company is in a "difficult situation due to the in part apparent and in part alleged misconduct of a number of managers and employees," and that "The sole reason for my decision today is to serve the best interests of Siemens." He also added, just in case we weren't clear on the fact that he isn't in trouble with the popo, that this was "A personal responsibility in view of the current investigations was not the basis for my decisions." Don't worry Heinrich, we don't blame you one bit.[Image courtesy German Press Agency]
Pantech CEO exits stage left
According to an "exclusive" report by Telecoms Korea, Pantech CEO and Co-President Sung-Kyu Lee will be letting go of the company's reigns after a very short time at the helm -- fourteen months, to be exact. Paving significant inroads into the Americas (Helio and AT&T come immediately to mind) must have proven to be a terribly expensive venture, as poor financial performance is being tossed around as the likely reason behind the changing of the guard. Current Chairman Byeong-Yeop Park, who has thus far shared the presidency with Lee, will apparently take sole ownership of the title in addition to his present duties at the head of the board. For what it's worth, rumor has it that Lee's resignation was opposed by the board, and if this dude had anything to do with the Ocean, we're a little opposed, too.
