krug3r
21-07-2003, 21:05
[SOURCE TIMESONLINE]
AS IF your mobile phone was not gimmicky enough, a Japanese subsidiary of Vodafone has come up with the ultimate executive toy — a handset that also powers a Ferrari Formula One car by remote control. A model Ferrari, that is.
The gadget in question is on sale in Japan, priced at 10,000 yen (£53), with the model Ferrari included.
Made by NEC, it is being sold by J-Phone, and stocks of the car-and-phone arrived at Vodafone’s Newbury headquarters last week, just in time for testing as practice sessions for the British Grand Prix got under way at Silverstone.
Executives at Vodafone’s headquarters were sufficiently impressed for a company spokesman to confirm that “we are seriously considering” bringing the product over to the UK shortly.
The new product is the latest in a string of increasingly gimmicky mobile phones, whose functions extend far beyond the traditional purpose of holding a conversation. In the past year manufacturers have introduced handsets with built-in radios, video cameras and personal stereos.
Manufacturers and operators hope that the greater functionality will tempt consumers into new, and more lucrative, uses of the mobile phone, amid worries that revenue growth in ordinary mobile telephone calls has stalled.
AS IF your mobile phone was not gimmicky enough, a Japanese subsidiary of Vodafone has come up with the ultimate executive toy — a handset that also powers a Ferrari Formula One car by remote control. A model Ferrari, that is.
The gadget in question is on sale in Japan, priced at 10,000 yen (£53), with the model Ferrari included.
Made by NEC, it is being sold by J-Phone, and stocks of the car-and-phone arrived at Vodafone’s Newbury headquarters last week, just in time for testing as practice sessions for the British Grand Prix got under way at Silverstone.
Executives at Vodafone’s headquarters were sufficiently impressed for a company spokesman to confirm that “we are seriously considering” bringing the product over to the UK shortly.
The new product is the latest in a string of increasingly gimmicky mobile phones, whose functions extend far beyond the traditional purpose of holding a conversation. In the past year manufacturers have introduced handsets with built-in radios, video cameras and personal stereos.
Manufacturers and operators hope that the greater functionality will tempt consumers into new, and more lucrative, uses of the mobile phone, amid worries that revenue growth in ordinary mobile telephone calls has stalled.