Collaborating with the French jewelry and watch designer Cartier, Motorola has released the luxury edition of the A1600. The Chinese manufacturer appreciated that no other improvements were necessary, thus bringing only a different design to the Ming. At the moment, no information on this collaboration between the two is available, but rumors are implying that the changes were actually made by Motorola alone, the only difference Cartier made being to bring its name to the A1600.

So, in a slightly condensed presentation, the new device features the same 2.4-inch QVGA 262K color touchscreen display and Ming's see-through plastic active cover. It is still the same Quadband GSM/GPRS/EDGE phone with no 3G connectivity as its predecessor.

As for its photographic capabilities, it uses a 3 Megapixel camera, but also features a stereo FM Radio, stereo Bluetooth with A2DP, a microUSB port and it supports microSD cards of up to 4GB. No changes were made regarding its OS, using the exact same Linux system. However, what it brings new is the built-in GPS system, usable for both goetagging and normal navigation.

Therefore we can positively, without a doubt, say that, besides the new “exclusive” look, there isn't anything this device can brag about. Now, when it comes to the new appearance, opinions are pretty radical, for some say this phone should not have been added to the luxury collection and that, moreover, the gold coloring was exaggerated, potentially creating the impression that owning such a device might not be a “blessing” but, in fact, quite a snobby thing to do.

There are other objections as well, but if we try to look on the bright side and keep an open mind, we'll find that taste is relative and if one likes this device, for whatever reason, then all other “impediments” are history.

The A1600 golden version is available for the pretty steep price of 685 Euros, or $865.