Former Vertu workers are releasing a new handset that costs almost $4,000

[midian182]

TL;DR: Remember Vertu, the maker of ridiculous luxury phones that cost up to $50,000? It folded back in 2017, but a new firm with many of its former employees has risen from its ashes—Xor—and its first handset will sell for around $3,942.

As reported by Engadget, Xor, which is pronounced “eggsor,” was co-founded by Hutch Hutchison, Vertu’s former design chief. It seems that some wealthy ex-Vertu customers missed its devices so much that they decided to fund a new company to make similarly ostentatious handsets.

The first handset Xor is developing is the Xor Titanium, which, as the name suggests, features a titanium chassis. So, what do you get for your near four-grand outlay? 5G, surely. Nope. You don’t even get 4G. Instead, you get voice calling over 2G/3G. There’s also that modern technology called SMS texts. It does come with an air quality sensor, admittedly, along with active noise cancelation and support for wireless charging, and its basicness means the battery lasts up to five days.

The Xor Titanium is aimed at business users who value security and privacy over uploading their latest holiday photos to Instagram. Owners can exchange calls and texts with other Xor users via end-to-end (AES256) encryption at the hardware level, with different ringtones indicating whether the call is encrypted. Handsets also have a remote secret key so users can delete its contents remotely should it be stolen or for whatever reason.

If you’re the kind of person who wears a watch that costs six-figures and conducts business deals using traditional voice calls, the Xor Titanium arrives in the first quarter of next year.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87539-former-vertu-workers-releasing-new-handset-costs-almost.html

 

[Theinsanegamer]

No, not only is it a monumental waste of money, but the 2g/3g netowkrs in the US are being shut down, along with the rest of the world, in favor of 4g and 5g. Meaning this would very quickly become a $4000 paperweight.

If you want to waste money, you can give me $2000. I will send you a very nice note with a smiley face on it, which will work regardless of wireless network, and you save 50%! What a deal!

 

[captaincranky]

This sounds like one of those Kickstarter schemes, that are conceived to be destined to fail, while a lot of money gets, "misplaced", in the meantime.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

I used to think Vertu phones were ridiculously overpriced and impractical until folding phones came to market.

 

[VitalyT]

It's like using a phone is too much hassle for rich folks, who will talk to the henchman, who then will tell it the phone guy, who then will make the call, and pass on some cryptic message. Like Paulie from Goodfellas. For others, putting dough into a useless phone company is just money laundering. Good business.

 

[Nobina]

They're going after those mega dumb people that know nothing about technology and are out of touch with the world but they inherited some money and think Vertu phones must be a thing since they're so expensive.

 

[0dium]

They're going after those mega dumb people that know nothing about technology and are out of touch with the world but they inherited some money and think Vertu phones must be a thing since they're so expensive.

Some things have one and only purpose - being expensive. Rich people buy lots of useless and expensive stuff just to show their status, wealth. They buy it just because they can.

 

[Getgone]

I wouldn't pay that for any_G phone. Like it changes anything.

 

[thelatestmodel]

Peasants, can your phone measure AIR QUALITY? /s

Of course there's a picture of it in a luxury vehicle

Truly ridiculous.

 

[emmzo]

Neah, I`m waiting for the solid gold landline with a sniff sensor.

 

[Uncle Al]

Can't believe this one ..... is this just click bait?

 

[Eldritch]

I heard rumour that a new startup is making ultra secure string phones with golden strings and cups made of titanium. No electronics, no battery and hack proof. Only $3899.

 

[Avro Arrow]

I wouldn't even pay $1,000 for a phone (and that's in CANADIAN dollars!). I have my ten commandments of purchasing responsibility to follow:

1. Thou shalt not pay more for thy tablet than thy phone
2. Thou shalt not pay more for thy phone than thy television
3. Thou shalt not pay more for thy television than thy laptop
4. Thou shalt not pay more for thy laptop than thy desktop
5. Thou shalt not pay more for thy desktop than thy car
6. Thou shalt not pay more for thy car than thy child's education
7. Thou shalt not pay more for thy child's education than thy condo
8. Thou shalt not pay more for thy condo than thy house
9. Thou shalt not pay more for thy house than thy employees' annual payroll
10. You can always buy furniture at IKEA

If the phone costs $4,000 what would everything else on the list have to cost? Just the fact that this phone exists shows their level of contempt for the intelligence level of the average human. The sad part is that they might be correct.

 

[Avro Arrow]

They're going after those mega dumb people that know nothing about technology and are out of touch with the world but they inherited some money and think Vertu phones must be a thing since they're so expensive.

That sounds a lot like iPhone users.

 

[Nobina]

That sounds a lot like iPhone users.

Maybe a few versions from now when Apple removes more stuff.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Maybe a few versions from now when Apple removes more stuff.

Umm, the post I replied to was talking about the target audience, not the devices. That's why I said it sounds like iPhone users. Now I'm confused.

But anyway, yeah, I'd DEFINITELY take an iPhone over this Vertu garbage and I say that as someone who hopes that he never owns an iPhone.

 

[0dium]

Umm, the post I replied to was talking about the target audience, not the devices. That's why I said it sounds like iPhone users. Now I'm confused.

But anyway, yeah, I'd DEFINITELY take an iPhone over this Vertu garbage and I say that as someone who hopes that he never owns an iPhone.

Yeah. I hate iphones but definitely would take it over this....thing

 

[Endymio]

Given there are many people for whom the difference in price between this and an iPhone is equivalent to the difference between a 50 cent and $2 toothbrush, the real issue is does the phone offer something of value. Hardware encryption trumps software in security, and indeed the company's press release announcing the phone starts its pitch with security, not luxury. I can easily see some corporations buying a set of these for its C-suite execs, for use as a second, business-only phone.

The press release also says nothing about the phone being 3G limited, which would be a rather insane design decision given the lifetime of those networks. I suspect that detail crept in inaccurately from some of the rather shoddy reporting on the phone --- the same story has been cut-and-pasted to hundreds of different news sites.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Yeah. I hate iphones but definitely would take it over this....thing

Well Vertu can rest assured that there is no shortage of stupid people at every wealth level. Now, I don't know how many are THIS stupid but... you never know.