The $50,000 Android Phone is Here

We suppose it was only a matter of time. While the iPad has been getting all of the luxury upgrade attention recently, Google’s Android operating system is gaining in popularity and giving the iPhone a run for its money. By the holiday season, don’t be surprised if a covetable tablet PC running Android pops up to challenge the iPad and add fuel to the Google vs. Microsoft battle for the future of the operating system.

But predictions aside, Android devices are gaining market share right now – even if they’re still lagging the iPhone and RIM (Blackberry) phones. {PaidContent} With an intensely loyal following though, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that Android is finally getting an ostentatious luxury upgrade of its own.

Introducing the Ulysse Nardin Chairman: $50,000 worth of phone, running the Android operating system (not Froyo, but perhaps that will be upgraded once the phone’s out of beta), powered by kinetic energy from a revolving rotor on the back, with a box that appears to double as a charging station, complete with a USB port and speakers. {CrunchGear} The 32GB phone also has a 2.8-inch multitouch screen, 8-megapixel camera, biometric fingerprint unlocking, WiFi and an email browser. {Gizmodo}

Ulysse Nardin is a Swiss watchmaker whose watches come in around $25,000, so they likely already have a good market for the phone. Designer phones are nothing new – Prada, Dior and Armani all have them, but we’ve probably only seen the beginning of the designer smartphone that pushes pricing limits by incorporating old luxury touches with new technology.

But the question – will it work? While luxury is mostly about timelessness and treasuring trinkets, technology is about frequent upgrades and subsidized changes. Where a father might pass a watch onto his son, no one is passing on their brick phone from the 90s. Well, there may be a few people, but we’re guessing they don’t get the same reception as a classic watch or piece of jewelry. Even though the software may be updated regardless of the phone hardware, how long will it take before the 32GB of storage is obsolete, or a new feature requires different hardware?

Granted, if you have $50,000 to spend on a phone (don’t look for any carrier subsidies on these), spending an equal amount on a newer model in a year or two is probably not that much of a hassle.