World’s Most Expensive Android Smartphone

Google’s Android mobile platform has made some waves since it was announced in 2007. As of May 2010, Android claimed 13% of the market share of smartphones in the US—over half of that claimed by the iOS platform run by Apple’s seemingly ubiquitous iPhone. One of the great advantages Android has over iOS is that it isn’t married to a particular hardware manufacturer, allowing many different companies to try their hands at Android smartphones.

The Chairman by Ulysse Nardin is one example of such a phone. Billed as the “world’s first luxury hybrid smarthpone,” the Chairman includes both a touch screen and a physical number pad. The Ulysse Nardin name is most often associated with luxury watches and that fact shows in the Chairman’s sophisticated design. The volume controls look like watch buttons and the crown between them can actually be wound to generate power for the device. In fact, the phone features a kinetic rotor power system visible through the backplate.

As for its hardware specifications, the Chairman has 32 GB of internal memory, an 8 megapixel camera, a Freescale i.MX processor and a display capable of high definition video playback.

There are five versions of the phone, made using either steel or 18k rose gold in the frames. Only 1846 units of each model will be produced. At a staggering $12,800 to $49,500, it’s the most expensive Android smartphone in the world.