A Porsche

Dilapidated smartphone pioneer BlackBerry couldn't sell enough of its new $300 BlackBerry 10 handsets to avoid a calamitous second-quarter loss, and it's hard to imagine a new $2,250 model will sell any better. Yet the oblivious BlackBerry is pressing on with the super-premium handset, maybe figuring that at that price, it doesn't have to move that many units.

BlackBerry, which recently failed to close a deal to take itself private, on Tuesday uncrated a luxury handset developed in cooperation with Porsche Design. Dubbed the P'9982, the device is essentially a more ostentatious version of poorly received BlackBerry Z10 crafted from stainless steel and crocodile leather, and - bizarrely - touted with a 'special series of PIN numbers' that will make its owners 'instantly recognizable in the exclusive world of Porsche Design smartphone owners.'

Astonishing.

If there's a believable rationale for marketing a fancy-pants version of the smartphone that forced you to write off nearly $1 billion in unsold inventory earlier this year, I can't think of one. Great excuse for a painfully ironic unboxing video, though.