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Mario's all about that money
Leave it to Forbes to obsess over the net worth of people who don't even exist. The Forbes "Fictional Fifteen" ranks the richest of the rich when it comes to fictional characters from movies, books, games, and more. And right at the bottom, tied with Lara Croft and Tony Montana of Scarface, is our favorite plumber, Mario. We had no idea fixing pipes could be so lucrative ... after all, so many plumbers can't seem to manage buying a belt. So how did he rate an estimated net worth of one billion big ones? From the "official" bio at Forbes: Mustachioed Italian plumber leaps onto Fictional 15 after decades of collecting gold coins from sewers, clouds, oceans. Dabbled in other trades, including boxing referee, race-car driver, golf pro and doctor, but maintains the best way to get rich is smashing brick blocks.If only it were that easy ....[Via GoNintendo]
"Black Diamond" WM5 Smartphone runs $300,000
If you're having a hard time justifying dropping a cool million on your next phone, might we turn your attention to the "Black Diamond," brought to us by Swiss manufacturer VIPN. Penned by Singaporean designer Jaren Goh, there's little question that the glossy black candybar is gorgeous -- but whether it's $300,000 gorgeous is another question entirely. Details are slim, but we know that the Windows Mobile 5 device should be rocking quadband GSM, WiFi, 128MB of memory with SD expansion, a 2-inch display, and a 400MHz XScale all wrapped up in titanium and diamonds. The touch sensitive keypad is Chocolate-esque, completely disappearing when not lit, while SIP is thrown in to keep your GSM usage minimum when you're in WiFi range (not to suggest anyone owning this phone is looking to save a few bucks). If we've piqued your interest, it looks like you've got until early 2007 to save your pennies, but keep your eyes peeled -- production is limited to 5 (yes, five) units.
Vertu Constellation gets the FCC treatment
If we're gonna drop a couple grand on a phone, the least it can do is give us quad-band GSM, right? As we reported a couple weeks back, Vertu's new Constellation handset picks up where their previous efforts left off, packing GSM 850/900/1800/1900 plus EDGE data all 2003-like. We weren't able to glean much from the draft manual (which still has Signature pictures in it), but the Constellation looks to rock a variant of Nokia's S40 platform -- we leave that to the world's privileged to decide whether that's an upgrade from the Signature and Ascent's OS. Look for this little slice of leather-covered opulence to drop later this year; we're sure you rich folk will find ways to shed some cash while you wait.
