Dressed in 24K gold

May 31, 2008 08:56 GMT  ·  By

Most of the luxury phones appeared on the market don't have a specific goal, but that's not the case with the new Merdeka 50 24K, which was created to celebrate 50 years of Malaysian independence from the UK. Well, the 50 years anniversary actually took place last year, when a Merdeka 50 18K phone was released, but this year's 24K handset is made for the same celebration.

The difference between the two Merdeka phones is that the new one is covered with 24K gold, while the old one is covered with 18K gold. Besides the different gold purity and value, the 24K version also comes with a leather pouch, a "Privilege Card" and a serial number. Aside from these aspects, both versions of the Merdeka 50 are basically the same.

Manufactured by Inobel, brand name of UMW E-Technologies, the Merdeka 50 is very slim and lightweight for a luxury phone. It measures only 107 x 49 x 8.9 millimeters and weighs 67.4 grams. The device's specs cannot be compared with the ones of today's high-end handsets, but they're still nice.

Merdeka 50 features a 176 x 220 pixels TFT display with 260K colors, Bluetooth, MP3 player, Video player, a 2 Megapixel camera with video recording, WAP 2.0 browser, tri-band GSM connectivity with GPRS, embedded games, speakerphone, voice recording, scheduler, plus a battery capable of providing a talk-time of up to 2.5 hours and a stand-by time of up to 160 hours.

There will only be 5,000 Merdeka 50 24K phones made, coming with a Commemorative Booklet each. To buy one you need 2,388 Malaysian ringgits (about $750 or 480 Euro) - a part from this money will be donated to charity organizations.

For more details about how can you purchase a Merdeka 50 phone you can visit Inobel's website, found at this address.