Giorgio Armani, a leading design company, and Samsung Electronics, a successful maker of various electronics, announced on Monday the intention to bring a lineup of stylish consumer electronics onto the market. Designed by Armani and produced by Samsung, the devices are promised to take the best from both style and technology worlds.

Consumer Electronics Heads Style Direction

It is hardly a secret that a lot of consumers make their buying decision based on visual attraction of products they are interested in. Moreover, it is also well-known that famous brands attract no less attention than the products themselves. As a result, many consume electronics manufacturers in the recent years started not only to invest into appearance of their devices, but also approached renowned design or lifestyle companies with collaboration proposals.

In the recent years Nokia released model 7270 Versace limited edition, Motorola launched Razr Dolce and Gabbana edition, Samsung introduced E500 Versace edition, LG unveiled KE850 Prada mobile phone, whereas notebook manufacturers – such as Acer and Asustek Computer – started to sell laptops under Ferrari and Lamborghini luxury cars brands. The announcement by Armani and Samsung bring the collaboration between electronics and design companies to a whole new level: the companies decided to market a broad lineup of devices, not just team up to create a gadget or two, or a family of similar products.

“Today fashion has expanded to encompass our way of life, not just how we dress, but how we design our home, the hotels we stay in, the car we drive and the technology we buy.  In fact, we make as much of a personal statement with the mobile phones that we carry or the televisions we have in our living rooms as we do with the shoes and bags we wear or the furnishings we chose to place in our homes,” said Giorgio Armani, president and chief executive of Giorgio Armani company.

Through a new strategic alliance, starting with the Giorgio Armani-Samsung mobile phone, the two companies plan to launch an innovative range of portable and home consumer electronics products as part of the Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and Armani/Casa lifestyles, founded on the combination of Giorgio Armani’s design aesthetic and Samsung’s technology.

Samsung Readies Armani Cell Phone, TV-Set

The first product jointly created by the design firm and the electronics conglomerate will be Armani-Samsung P520 mobile phone, which will utilize Samsung’s latest technologies along with design by Giorgio Armani.

The Samsung P520 cell phone features 2.6” QVGA (240x320) touch-screen, tri-band GSM (900MHz, 1800MHz, 1900MHz) with GPRS and EDGE support, built-in digital media player with H.263, AAC+/MP3/WMA, MPEG4, AAC and e-AAC+ support, 3MP camera, Internet browser, Bluetooth 2.0, microSD memory card slot and other modern features. The phone will be credit-card sized (87.5mm x 54.5mm), will be only 10.5mm (0.4”) thick and will have weight of just 85 grams (2.99 ounces).

Given that Armani-Samsung P520 will have large touch screen, it will inevitably be compared to Apple’s iPhone and LG’s Prada. The device, however, will be a little smaller than LG’s and considerably smaller and lighter than the iPhone. Unlike the rivals, the P520 will have a vibration feature that will cause immediate mild vibration when users touch icons on the display.

A specially designed Giorgio Armani leather carrying case is also included for protection.

The new mobile phone will be available at Giorgio Armani’s flagship stores and selected mobile phone shops in major European countries from November 2007. The price of the device will be €650 ($916).

The Armani/Casa-Samsung luxury LCD television will be unveiled in January 2008. Details and pricing remains unknown.