Twenty per cent of cell phones sold across the world are fakes, says Esko Aho, a member of Nokia’s executive board.

Fake phones affect the reputation of brands such as Nokia, he told Reuters. He added, “The problem of fake cellphones is a global one, and is not limited to China alone as such phones are being manufactured in Latin America and Europe also.”

Research firm Gartner says that about 20 per cent of fake cellphones sold may be from the grey market, but not all experts agree with this estimate.

Dior, the fashion giant better known as Christian Dior, has announced its latest and most anticipated mobile phone the Dior Feuille d’Or (Gold Leaf).

Dior Gold Leaf’s body comprises of decorations in 24 carat gold leaves encrusted in Dior’s trademark cannage pattern. Each phone is made by a single technician over six days.

This slim Clamshell phone for women measures 99 x 42.8 x 14.6 mm, and weighs 125 grams. Dior Gold Leaf has an AMOLED QVGA resolution display. It has a 2 mega pixel camera, Bluetooth connectivity, expandable memory and the usual features one would expect from a mobile phone.

Also included in the bundle with Dior Gold Leaf is the My Dior mini phone( which can be used when Bluetooth is connected), which allows the user to make and receive calls, and access the phone book and recently dialed numbers all this while Dior phone is connected over Bluetooth. My Dior is even smaller than a regular lipstick case and weighs a mere 25 grams.

The company has priced the Dior phone at Rs 3,64,000 and it will be sold at Dior boutiques and a few other outlets.

The moment we hear that a phone is rugged, we assume that it must be bulky and ugly. Motorola Defy stands true to its name and defies that stereotype.

Launched recently in India, Motorola Defy feels light and compact in your hand. Its exterior is designed to make the device water resistant and immune to shock from being knocked around. Dirt and smudges don’t stay on the phone’s body, thus making it look clean.

Defy is certainly not the prettiest phone around, but you don’t buy it for that reason. It has a 3.7 inch touchscreen display of 480 x 854 Pixel resolution, and uses Corning’s Gorilla Glass (scratch resistant) so even if the phone is lying in a bag with pens or keys, it will stay scratch free.

Motorola Defy has a bright display which ensures you can view the content properly outdoors as well. The home, search and back buttons at the bottom, however, are slightly troublesome since they tend to get pressed unintentionally.

The phone runs Android 2.1, also known as Eclair, but its OS is expected to be upgraded to version 2.2 Froyo. Defy has an 800 MHz processor and is quite fast. It has built in storage of 2 GB, which can be increased using micro SD cards. Defy’s Micro USB port is hidden under a flap so that water can’t get at it. The phone’s battery is not unusual and you can expect it to get you through the workday.

The Motorola Defy costs Rs 18000.

It’s an interesting move by Nokia to even reveal that it is considering strategy changes in the smartphone segment. The company said it had some gems on which it could build its future success. Nokia has also indicated its intention to partner with another company.

Nokia’s chief executive officer Stephen Elop told the Wall Street Journal’s tech blog AllthingsD that the phone industry has changed and that Nokia needs to adapt quickly to the new situation. The company’s high end devices will run on its MeeGo operating system, which is based on Linux and was developed in partnership with Intel. Details regarding Nokia’s MeeGo products will be revealed on February 11 when Elop will meet investors.

The statements from Stephen Elop are being watched with great care because he is a former Microsoft executive who headed the business division there. Before joining Microsoft, he was the chief operating officer of Juniper Networks. Stephen Elop succeeded Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo after the performance of Nokia nosedived under him. The appointment of Stephe Elop was a surprise because he was a Canadian national whereas the Nokia management was dominated by Finnish executives before him.

Nokia believes that the devices market is evolving in a way to make developers and the ecosystem more important for high end devices; whereas distribution, scale and cost are significant for low end devices. The term ecosystem refers to a smartphone platform that is conducive to large scale App development; has a store where it sells apps; and tends to tie down users because they get accustomed to the apps on one platform and don’t want to change to another. Nokia either needs to create an ecosystem of its own or join one — such as by making an Android smartphone since Android is a well developed ecosystem.

Elop admitted that Nokia has faced a series of disappointments in the US market and that the company should partner (with a device platform) that creates possibilities for Nokia in that country.

The popularity of smartphones doesn’t show any signs of slowing down yet. According to an In-Stat study, the total number of smartphones shipped is likely to increase to 850 million by 2015 and to one billion soon after. The firm further says about 65 per cent of all smartphones will use wideband CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) networks served by companies such as Intel, Nokia, and Samsung. Long Term Evolution is likely to be used by a small minority, says the report.

According to In-Stat, Android and Symbian based smartphones will see most growth.

“There are several critical factors that drive smartphone success,” says analyst Allen Nogee, “These include a powerful browser; a wide variety of apps; an easy to navigate user interface and a good keyboard or touchscreen. In addition, other intangible attributes such as being ‘fashionable’ and that ‘your friends have one’ are important.”

Microsoft seems to be behind in the race even though devices that run on Windows Phone OS are popular among enterprise customers.