(Credit:
Yamane Yasuhiro/CNET Japan)
MP3 playback? Check. Two cameras? Check. Built-in mobile Buddhist altar? Che... Wait, WTF?!
You read correctly. The Odin 99 has landed on the streets of China, and a single tap of the phone's dedicated lotus-leaf button will load a private, customizable, animated altar.
The idea is to allow Buddhists to perform their dedications and rituals conveniently when away from home. You can simulate incense burning and purification rites and play music to help you meditate wherever you happen to be.
The Odin 99 comes bundled with a charm.
(Credit: Yamane Yasuhiro/CNET Japan)As far as our knowledge goes of inventions that seamlessly converge religion with phone calls, this takes the gold medal. Gold paint has been taken to the phone too, encrusting the otherwise conventional-looking device. Also interesting is that it comes with a metal Buddhist charm to be carried by the user, and two batteries--the extra one considered "a gift."
At first we were amused. But then came objective inquisitiveness: Would a Buddhist actually find this useful? CNET UK lacks a Buddhist writer to ask, and crowd-sourcing opinions on Twitter came up with nothing.
Before now, we've seen iPhone apps like digitalBlend's Buddha Box (iTunes link)--created by a Buddhist to aid on-the-go meditation--and its reviews are favorable. But no U.K. networks carry a phone with such religious undertones, and we don't believe it's a hotly requested feature.
Or is it? If you're Buddhist and would find a device like this useful, please let us know in the comments below. We're very eager to hear your opinions, as other readers will be too, no doubt.
(Source: Crave UK)
(Credit:
Newlaunches)
When we saw pictures of the "Buddha phone," we didn't actually think we'd see it for real. So when one of my colleagues said he saw one at Sim Lim Square (the gadget bazaar of Singapore), I knew I had to see it with my own eyes.
Unlike the laughable Lillian Too Lucky Dragon handset, the Buddha phone drew a much more subdued reaction. Maybe because the shopowner got a little suspicious of my close scrutiny and fusillade of questions. I swear he had me in the corner of his eye even while attending to other customers.
Your friendly shopowner did reveal that there are only 999 of the Shenzhen-manufactured Buddha phones worldwide, an auspicious number given that 9 stands for longevity. When I inquired about the price, I was quoted S$380 (about $282)--already a discount from the original S$400-plus.
Given my experience dealing with such retailers, I could probably drive it down a couple more tens if I really wanted it. But since I made my intention clear that I wasn't in a buying way, the now-not-so-friendly chap was unwilling to show me the packaging that came with the phone. No photos either.
He did, however, allow me to handle the handset for a bit. The snappy response of the buttons was surprisingly pretty decent. There are two jade-like pieces on the face of the handset: One is used as the directional control, the second at the bottom of the numeric keypad to activate the Bluetooth connection. Elsewhere, the mini-USB port is found along the top edge of the phone and the microSD expansion card slot on the side.
In the hand, though, the Buddha phone felt more like a toy showpiece than an actual handset. For this scribe, the experience was anything but divine. Seriously, if you can put up with its hideous keypad design and tacky 24k-gold plating, you can put up with anything.
Thanks, but no thanks. We'll stick with the Dragon phone because this poor journo would rather get lucky than achieve enlightenment.
(Source: Crave Asia)
(Credit:
Newlaunches)
If there's one thing that's in dire need among mobile phone addicts, it's a calming influence. And though it may be too much to ask for them to part with their handsets, perhaps the answer is in the handset itself, honorable grasshopper.
Enter the "Buddha phone."
This "pear of the orient," as Newlaunches describes it, has even been blessed by a Buddhist monk. Lesser beings like us might be interested in knowing such superficial elements as its touch screen, microSD card slot, and 24k-gold plating. Those features are hardly unique these days, but how many phones can claim to have jade-like scroll buttons?
Unfortunately the only place to pick up one of these zen phones is on the streets of Shenzhen. Or, perhaps, the afterlife.
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