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DT Daily: Cell phone for the 1 Percent, first look at the BMW i8, Spotify’s summer music sale

Today on DT Daily: A cell phone for the 1 Percent, we get up close to the BMW i8 and there’s a sale going on over at Spotify.

So, think your spendy new smartphone is some top-of-the-line tech? Think again. Take a look at the new Signature Touch from British luxury cell phone maker Vertu. It literally makes those other cell phones look, well, cheap by comparison.

What’s the Vertu difference? The phones are made entirely by hand in England using only the finest materials, including leather, titanium, sapphire screens and so on. Sound comes from Bang and Olefson while Hasselblad firms up the camera section. Push a red button on the side and a real person comes on the line to do your bidding. Vertu phones used to get knocks for being low-tech, but trust us, this one is fully up to date with 64 gigs of memory, a modern OS and a full HD screen.

So how much is it? Over $11,000. We got an up-close look at one, so put down that brandy and have Bitterman drive your browser here for a closer look.

What will cars be like 10 years from now? No one really knows but it’s probably a good bet they will either run on electricity or be some sort of super hybrid. Or, you could just get a BMW i8 and find out right now what everyone will be driving in 2024.

We jest of course, but now that DT Automotive Editor Nick Jaynes has gotten some seat time in BMW’s new sci-fi wonder machine, we’ve gotta say that it really does seem like a car from the future. Capable of going 22 miles at 75 miles an hour on electrons alone, the i8 also features a three-cylinder gas engine that, when combined with those electric motors, gets the i8 to 60 miles an hour in just over 4 seconds. That’s fast! 

Befitting its $135,000 price tag, the i8 is stuffed full of tech goodness, and just check out those crazy doors. So is it worth it? Hmmm. Check out Nick’s review for more details.

Summer is practically here, and you’re going to need some new tunes for those barbeques and late-night shenanigans. So it’s a good thing Spotify is having a summer sale of sorts.

The popular music streaming company, which boasts over 40 million users, has put their premium plan on sale. It usually costs $10 per month but until June 15, you can score three months of their top-tier service for that same ten bucks. Spotify recently asked users to reset passwords after a hacking scare, so this may be their way of saying sorry. Or it could just be a really good deal.

Your host today is Caleb Denison.

Bill Roberson
Former Digital Trends Contributor
I focus on producing Digital Trends' 'DT Daily' video news program along with photographing items we get in for review. I…
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