Basic Features
A key feature among Vertu phones are the custom inner workings. Rather
than fusing them together (as most phones do), the Vertu Signature's parts
are modular. So as technology advances, consumers' phones can as well. With
the fast pace of technology, consumers can rest assured it won't grow obsolete.
Vertu offers free hardware and software upgrades to existing consumers for
life, as was the case with color screens, antennas, and microphones in the
past.
Built on a tri-band GSM (900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz) technology, the Signature
2006 will work on GSM networks worldwide. Measuring 122 x 42 x 16 mm it
is much longer than standard phones, albeit just as wide and thick. However
at 173 g, the Signature is extremely heavy. A byproduct of the metals (rather
than plastic), it has some weight behind it.
Rating the Signature's 950 mAh Li-Ion battery (BLZ-2) at 9.0 hours and
300 hours (12.5 days) of talk and standby times respectively, these are
under optimal conditions. Manufacturers and carriers often list talk and
standby times with disclaimers about variable performance, and refer to
the times they publish as maximum times. Actual talk and standby times are
lower.
The Signature supports a variety of languages including English, French,
Italian, German, Spanish, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Russian,
Arabic, and Turkish. Multi-language predictive text is supported as well.
 Up
to now we have been using "Signature" to denote the new "Signature 2006."
However, it should be noted there are actually two versions of the phone,
the original (Signature) released in 2002, and the new version (Signature
2006) this year.
Aside from small cosmetic differences (such as an internal antenna instead
of a retractable one), the 2006 adds improved features such as tri-band
capabilities (rather than dual-band), improved color screen, longer battery
life (9 and 300 hours of talk and standby times rather than 6 and 200),
and GPRS support.
Screen
Underneath the scratch-proof sapphire crystal contains a high-quality 12-bit
color TFD (Thin Film Diode) display. However, compared to other devices
on the market, the Signature's display is not state-of-the-art. Many devices
released nowadays feature up to 262K-colors, a significant improvement over
the Signature's mediocre 4K-color display.
Regardless, using Crystal Fine technology (developed by Epson), the Signature's
116 x 148 px (34.7 x 46.8 mm) LCD applies transflective liquid crystal technology
to offer unsurpassed clarity under a wide variety of viewing conditions;
from the black of night to sunny outdoor afternoons.
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