If you’ve been watching the telly since yesterday, chances are you must have noticed an interesting commercial touting a new range of Lava Iris Pro smartphones. The phone showcased in the ad is slated to hit stores in India on August 25, but as far its price is concerned, it still remains unmentioned. Moreover, only a few of its specifications are known at the moment, with Lava having chosen to hold back on them in order to tease prospective buyers.

As revealed through the video, the device bears on it a quad core processor clocked at 1.2GHz. A dual camera setup is apparent, but there’s no word on what their capacities will be. That the handset features an HD display is no surprise, given that most top models from Indian mobile phone manufacturers these days are being equipped with high resolution panels.

Embarking on teaser campaigns is fast becoming a craze that’s slowly transcending from western markets to India. Recently, we saw Micromax bombarding us with a long-running campaign for its Canvas 4 smartphone which was released in July. Lava too it seems is trying to build up the same amount of hype at the moment. After all, the release is all set to mark the arrival of a new series of devices from the company.

Lava was last seen in action when it brought out its 504q handset recently. Furnished with gesture controls, this Rs 13,499 phone grabs hold of a 5-inch HD display, a quad core processor, 1GB worth of RAM, an 8MP camera, 4GB of internal storage which is expandable up to 32GB and the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS.

Occupying the bottom rung of Sony's current Xperia line of smartphones, the $299 Xperia L has attractive styling for an entry-level handset. The device also packs a colorful 4.3-inch screen, dual-core processing, and a decent camera. If you're expecting much more from this affordable unlocked phone, though, you'll be headed for a rude awakening.

Editors' note: For a deeper dive be sure to read CNET UK's full review of the Sony Xperia L.

Core components : A Sony flagship the Xperia L isn't. Unlike its bigger and badder siblings, the Xperia ZL and Xperia Z, the Xperia L relies on a selection of watered-down components to get through the day. Under the hood you'll find a slow 1.2GHz dual-core processor paired with a constrained 1GB of RAM.

The phone's internal storage is also cramped, topping out at 4GB. Thankfully you can add extra in a pinch via the Xperia L's microSD card slot. You'll just have to be mindful when you install apps or transfer digital media.

Design : Thankfully Sony didn't skimp on effort and materials when designing the Xperia L. By the looks of it you'd probably never guess this was a budget handset. Its curved back makes it comfortable to hold and the Xperia's matte-black finish paired with silver highlights conveys a distinct sense of elegance.

Software and interface : The Xperia L doesn't have the freshest software either, running the now-outdated version 4.1.2 of Android Jelly Bean. The current iteration, Android 4.3, boasts quite a number of enhancements but has made it to only a select number of devices.

Camera : Sony loves to make a lot of noise about its smartphone cameras, and the Xperia L is no exception. Equipped with an 8MP sensor, though, the handset is less sensitive than its more expensive siblings the Xperia Z and ZL, which boast a sharper 13MP imaging system.

Australians love to personalise their cars, whether it's a shiny set of sports wheels, schmick seat covers or some fancy stickerwork. It's got to look a bit different to Dave's one down the road.

Rolls-Royce owners are no different – apart from not batting an eyelid at spending more on a car than most of us spend on a house, that is.

Those buying the quintessential English brand are willing to spend even more than customers in other affluent markets around the world.

Australia is one of the leading markets for Rolls-Royce's “Bespoke” program, which offers an astonishing list of made-to-order accessories. All in the name of making your Roller look and feel just that bit different to everyone else's.

The 107-year-old company, based in the southern English country village of Goodwood, will happily build you a portable picnic setting from the same timber veneer as that of your dashboard, or match the colour of the piping in the electrified, heated, cooled and sumptuously leather-clad seats to your favourite tie.

And if you need to ask how much these painstaking and time-consuming constructions cost, you definitely can't afford it.

Rolls-Royce Asia Pacific general manager Dan Balmer says owners of their “entry level” model, the $645,000 Ghost saloon, are the Bespoke program's best customers – not just in Australia, but in the entire Asia-Pacific region, including newly affluent China.

“We see more bespoke features being sold on Ghost in this country than we see across the rest of Asia-Pacific as a whole. So there's basically more bespoke content per car in Australia than we see in other countries,” Ballmer says.

While Asian customers are most likely to spend their money on exterior enhancements designed to demonstrate the owner's prosperity to passers-by, Australian customers are more likely to display their affluence inside.

“We have sold quite a few two-tone cars [in Australia], but in the main, exteriors tend to be monotone – and what they do spend time on is the interior, the private side of life,” he says.

“It shows a unique part of the Australian character: it's not about shouting externally, it's about keeping it all to yourself.”

A major drawcard of the brand is not just the thrill of owning a car still viewed by most as the pinnacle of motoring, but the prestige that comes with its extreme scarcity.

Rolls-Royce sold just 22 cars in Australia last year and 3300 globally, and in the past decade just 139 examples have found homes Down Under.

This is as it should be, says Balmer. “It's about the exclusive angle. That's the main draw for our customers, they like the fact that they can “Bespoke” a car and make it their own, and not see another copy of it down the street.

“I think some of our competitors have gone down that path, chasing volume and becoming a bit more 'mass luxury' than we ever would get near.”

He admits there is a fine line between maintaining the perception of scarcity and therefore exclusivity – “when's the last time you saw a Ghost on the street?” – and the company's desire to incrementally grow sales volumes.