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WITH ITS CLEVER COMBINATION OF FORM AND FUNCTION, THE NEW Serenata could have come direct from the Bauhaus movement’s school of product design. Admittedly we weren’t sure at first which end was up, but whichever way you look at it, this latest offering from the Samsung/Bang & Olufsen partnership is truly beautiful. The rounded shape is apparently infl uenced by a smooth stone washed up on the beach and feels just as good in the palm, but underneath all the style is some serious substance. As well as a telephone, the Serenata is an exceptional music player, able to handle both MP3 and uncompressed formats and boasting two high quality B&O speaker units for excellent sound reproduction. So while you can, of course, listen to music via the bundled headphones, you can also fill a (moderately sized) room with your music, or put the speakers to work as a telephone that allows first-rate hands-free calling. It’s also a top-end mobile too, with 3.5G multimedia connectivity, video, MMS and email, all navigated from the context sensitive scroll-wheel. Of course, all this means there is one major difference between Serenata and the principles of Bauhaus, which believed in quality design for all. Because while iPhones are popping up with ever-increasing ubiquity, the Serenata will remain a model of exclusivity, available only to those willing to pay for the best in B&O beauty. www.bang-olufsen.com Costs £850 (approx. €1,000)