Siemens SL55: A handset with style

Designed for desire.

This is how Siemens, in its website, describes its newest phone on the block – the SL55.

Indeed, when the phone is seen being used by models, trendsetters and the chic crowd, who wouldn’t think it isn’t desirable?

Siemens says it was built for fashionistas, that’s why its designers gave prime importance on its look.

The SL55, indeed, features an innovative design that prompts cellphone users in this text-crazy country to give it not only a second but a third or even a fourth look.

Since it doesn’t look like your average cellphone, it easily catches attention because of, among other features, its slide open style and its unique shape and color.

The SL55’s keypad, called the Proslider, is hidden when not in use, giving the phone a solid look.

Measuring only 8.2 cm, this triband phone is extremely compact; it fits into any pocket or any small purse. Sometimes, you wouldn’t even know it’s there. But when the keypad is open it reaches 10.5 cm but still small enough to retain its compact look.

But when the keypad is revealed, it enhances the phone’s look even more as the SL55’s numeric keypad is brightly illuminated. Moreover, its LCD screen is capable of showing 4,096 colors at 101x80 pixels. Notwithstanding its small size, its screen is also big enough to accommodate seven lines.

In its website, Siemens says it intentionally picked the jewelry colors of ruby red and titan-like black diamonds to give the phone elegance to match the lifestyle of the trendy crowd.

Even the handset’s default polyphonic ringtones are carefully chosen so they stand out among the default ringtones of other phone brands. It choices include Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, Tango, Caribbean Pop, Classic Jazz and Pop Mozart. However, there’s always the option to load ringtones based on one’s music preference.

But beyond style, the SL55 offers technical sophistication such as WAP, GPRS and Java wireless technology for gaming and a host of business solutions, including the capability to synchronize data stored in the phone with PCs and PDAs. This makes the SL55 the ideal triband phone for global roaming.

Additional accessories can be bought to enhance the phone’s capability. A digital camera – the Siemens QuicPic camera – can also be attached to the phone for quick taking of photos or images. And because the phone is MMS-capable, the camera is actually a valuable accessory for creating and sending creative MMS messages.

For people who are used to the functionalities of other cellphones though, it helps to know that the Siemens SL55 has its own set of maneuvers, its own language, its own discourse, so to speak.

You learn to exploit the full capabilities of the phone. Don’t be constrained by the functional limitations or look for the uniqueness of other phones because the SL55 has its own "personality" waiting to be discovered. And the satisfaction comes from unearthing each feature, each possibility, and even its many idiosyncrasies.

In the print ad campaign of the SL55, Siemens says, "Be inspired." This distinctive phone is not just another stylish cellphone on the block. It needs to be "discovered."