At Manhattan’s Luxury Technology Show, expensive phones, expensive bedding, cocktail weenies and Grillbot.
Privacy can come with a high price tag. We check out the Solarin phone and other lavish gadgets at the Luxury Technology Show.
No jeans. I wore slacks — from Banana Republic. Had to bring my A-game if I was going to hobnob in the rarified air of the Luxury Technology Show in Manhattan.
Despite that effort, it quickly dawned on me that Thursday’s swank, invite-only bacchanal was no place for a nonrich person like myself, even if I was killing it in $55 gray herringbone pants.
This realization set in the moment I held an alligator-leather Android phone with an aluminum and ceramic chassis, a 24-megapixel camera and “military-grade” security functions, made by Switzerland-based Sirin Labs. Its price tag: up to $18,000.
I snapped a picture of the device with my 2-year-old iPhone 6 (worth about $250 on eBay) and asked Nimrod May, Sirin’s chief marketing officer, whether the company offers layaway or a cheaper version for regular Joes.
Nimrod May presenting a phone that’s worth as much as a car.
Standing by a wing-doored, black Tesla Model X , he scoffed at my layaway question but added: “We’re considering making a less-expensive version of the phone… ”
“…but it would still be a $5,000 to $6,000 price tag. ”
Time for me to move on.
The show , held at the white-columned, blue-lit Metropolitan Pavilion, offered a rare look at ultrawealthy people’s taste in tech, which, unsurprisingly, focused a whole lot on creature comforts and fancy materials.
