Hasta La Gadget!

According to a statement we received earlier, Vertu’s Perry Oosting (pictured left) has stepped down after his successful four year stint as President and CEO, though he’ll continue to invest in the company. Despite the relatively short run, the Dutch exec oversaw Vertu’s departure from Nokia and subsequently launched the company’s first-ever Android device, the Ti. Little is known about the reasons behind this change, but judging by Oosting’s considerable knowledge of the luxury goods market, he’ll have plenty of options for his next move.

The luxury phone maker will now be led by CMO Massimiliano “Max” Pogliani (pictured right), who’s probably best known for building up Nespresso, Nestlé’s premium coffee brand, prior to joining Vertu last November. Pogliani will be assisted by ex-Jimmy Choo COO Jonathan Sinclair, who joined Vertu this month under the same title. Press release after the break.

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It’s been almost half a year since Vertu launched its first-ever Android phone, the TI, and now the company’s decided to throw in a couple of limited editions to lure the big spenders. As pictured above, the new Vertu TI Colours collection is wrapped in either “Sunset Red” or “Midnight Blue” calf leather, and only 1,000 units are made for each color. As per typical Vertu style, there’s a unique number etched on the back to indicate which of the 1,000 units yours is.

The rest of this hand-crafted, matt grey titanium phone remains unchanged otherwise, namely its 3.7-inch tough sapphire screen, Android 4.0, 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, 64GB storage plus an 8-megapixel camera. And of course, the phone still comes with the famed Vertu Concierge, a “100 percent independent” service that CEO Perry Oosting is very proud of. To join this exclusive club, you’ll have to somehow fork out a whopping HK$90,000 or €8,900 (about US$11,700) — just a tad more expensive than the TI Titanium Pure Black edition, but also more flamboyant. This author already spotted these new phones at Vertu’s Hong Kong Airport store, and he’s currently accepting donations.

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We gotta say, originally we weren’t very confident in the above alleged spy shots of the rumored Nokia EOS smartphone, but after talking to the leakster from Sina Weibo, we think we got this figured out. First of all, there are two parts here: the paint-less camera cover plate that now says “41 MEGA PIXEL” — the same camera resolution featured on the 808 PureView — instead of “XX MEGA PIXEL,” and a metallic chassis of the EOS phone. But the latter (pictured center and right) looks slightly different to the other leaks we’ve come across so far: the bump is significantly smaller, and the holes inside don’t match the ones on the cover plate. If you look even closer, the pin hole for what seems to be a SIM slot at the top is now on the other side of the slot.

Judging by his background and track record so far (he claims he also leaked the red EOS factory photos), we have reason to believe that this leakster does have a good source on the factory floor. Hence our two assumptions: either this chassis is an early engineering sample, or that this is a metallic variant of the plastic EOS. You know, like what the Lumia 925 is to the Lumia 920. We’ve been promised a few more photos in the coming days, and hopefully they’ll unravel more mystery before Nokia lets the cat out of the bag next month.

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Source: Sina Weibo (1), (2)

According to an invitation we received earlier today, HTC and Taiwanese carrier Chunghwa Telecom will be holding a joint event on June 19th to launch two devices locally: the already announced 4.5-inch, BoomSound-enabled Desire 600, along with a new Butterfly S. While no specs are mentioned here for the latter phone, our usually reliable friends over at ePrice received a tip last month on what to expect: the new phone is believed to still pack a 5-inch display, but its camera will be replaced by an UltraPixel version (which is currently only featured on the One), plus its body will be slightly thicker to make way for a larger battery. And unsurprisingly, the new Taiwanese Butterfly is expected to still have a microSD card slot.

HTC’s VP of North Asia Jack Tong also told ePrice recently that if there is a demand, he will speed up the process of bringing an LTE-enabled second-gen Butterfly to Hong Kong — a city that never officially got hold of the original Butterfly. The exec believes that judging by HTC’s recent market performance in Taiwan, it’s possible to realize a dual-flagship strategy in other regions for the remainder of the year. Anyhow, our brethren over at Engadget Chinese will be at the launch event in Yilan, Taiwan next week, so stay tuned for our coverage.

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Even though Oppo’s Ulike 2 won’t be leaving China any time soon (if ever), there’s still hope for its larger follow-up, the Ulike 2S. Announced in Shenzhen yesterday, this new device still boasts a combo of a 5-megapixel front-facing camera plus an 8-megapixel imager on the back, but both are said to have improved performance and beautification effects. The more obvious difference is the larger 5.5-inch 720p display — a big jump from the old 4.5-inch 960 x 540 version — with a pretty slim bezel. On the back, the Ulike 2S has a cover that gives you access to the removable 3,000mAh battery (instead of the old built-in 2,020mAh cell), as well as the dual micro-SIM slots.

There’s no word on the detailed specs or price just yet, but stay tuned for its launch within the next two months. Alternatively, there’s always the smaller MeituKiss with its 8-megapixel selfie camera, if you dig the extra pixels.

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Source: CNMO (Chinese)