The big competitor of Apple’s iPhone, the LG KE850 (a.k.a. LG Prada), was recently released and our friends over at MobileBurn published a long review with lots of info about the impressive feature phone. Additionally, they also sent us a screenshot of the LG Prada rendering OSAlert.
Review: LG’s KE850 Prada Phone
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSAlert.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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the gui just doesn’t look as cool as the iphone’s.
Exactly. Take a look:
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=LG+Prada&hl=en
The UI on this thing is downright ugly compared to that of the iPhone’s (based on videos I’ve seen, since I’ve used neither) and yet it costs more. Verizon seems to think that this will compete with the iPhone.
Yep, a more expensive, crappier phone with Prada (a highly feminine brand) on the front is really going to compete with the iPhone. I’m bored today, Verizon and LG should ship me some of what they are smoking.
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http://watching-eyes.blogspot.com/
for some reason it reminds me very much of gnome.
Yep.
PS.
Does anyone know if the Prada has multi-touch or if it is just a normal touchscreen? The article probably says, but I almost never READ reviews of phones and other gadgets. I prefer to hit Google Video/Youtube and watch videos (gives you a much better idea IMHO).
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http://watching-eyes.blogspot.com/
from the article:
“While the Prada phone doesn’t support a multi-touch UI that allows for multiple fingers to interact with the display at the same time, it does allow for simpler interactions such as tapping and dragging.”
As far as I am aware, the multi touch technology is patented by Apple so it wouldn’t have it. I read this somewhere but I lost the link.
Now the interesting thing is, Microsoft’s new touch device, the one demonstrated a few days ago, *also* has a multi touch so I don’t know if the patent for multi touch applies only for mobile phones or other devices as well.
Edited 2007-06-04 13:04
Microsoft’s “Surface” device does NOT use a touchscreen. Instead, it uses cameras. As a result, it likely wouldn’t be covered by Apple’s patents.
Besides, Microsoft and Apple likely have a patent cross-license anyways.
Here is more on multitouch:
http://channel9.msdn.com/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=271265
I like the looks of this phone, and I would really like to get my hands on one. The big downside? It says “Prada” dominantly on the front.
That’s just wrong. It spoils the phone. I, and many probably with me, associate the Prada brand with women. They might make men’s clothing and accessories as well (I have no idea), but I still find it a women’s brand.
Apart from that, its design still cannot compete with my Nokia 8800’s. Nor does that of the iPhone, by the way.
I agree Thom, though I see all “designer labels” as poncy womens stuff including their offerings for gents.
That could just be me being a grumpy old coder mind you.
I skimmed through the first 6 pages – my impression is that the actual hardware is quite good – autofocus camera, good build quality, touch screen etc. But then, on each page, the phone seems crappier and crappier – plagued by poorly thought out software. My analysis: rushed to the market.
So I skipped to the conclusions. The phone actually has a “recommended” rating, with a rather vague “rockstar” motivation. It seems that the device infuses the user with “desire”.
I like that. I know that feeling. I have a Nokia 6111. A technically rather bland, inadequate phone. But I wouldn’t change it for anything else on the market, today or in the near future. There simply does not exist any other phone that instills me with enough “desire”. There are only a few phones each year with this quality – the Chocolate, the RAZR, the (for me at least) 6111, the SE W880…
Again, I like that. A geek inside and out, I still never got why tech must be beige-box-boring. My next phone? Prada or iPhone or whatever fancy is available in the next 12 months. Treo, Blackberry, SE or Nokia smartphones – please god no…
How long will we wait for USB cameras and similar stuff reviews?…
I’m not much impressed, my dell axim x5 (a very very old PDA) does the same work or maybe better, take a look:
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/1482/screen001yp7.jpg
I think they could design another interface to make it easier to read.
I highly recommend reading page 3 if you want to find out one of the biggest differences between the Prada phone and the iPhone:
http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Page=3&Id=3415
The first two pages talk about how pretty it is, starting at page three, they discuss usability/software.
OK, the date for the iPhone was just announced: June 29
Please look at the screenshot of OSAlert in the Prada phone:
http://www.osnews.com/img/prada.jpg
Then, read the Prada review carefully. For instance the part about entering messages, or the part about music playback.
Then… watch this:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/ads/ad2/
I think the differences are pretty clear.
I watched that entire ad and saw nothing about how to enter text. Which is a shame because that’s one of the main things I’m wondering about. Secondly comparing a critical review to a video made by a company to show off how amazingly cool their product is is hardly fair. For all we know those shots where pre rendered videos and not the actual phone interface.
There are three ads, click at the bottom to select a different one. There have been reviews of the phone made by people who used it for several minutes, and they all agree that it works “just like as it was shown on the keynote”, which is pretty much what is shown in those ads, the difference being that the keynote is one hour long and the ads just take 30 seconds of your time.
In any case, I don’t know who modded my first post down, because it certainly wasn’t offtopic considering the review site mentions the iPhone in every single screenshot of the Prada. I simply pointed out to a specific section of the review which I considered to be central to it, with my take on why I did so: it is software what makes all the difference.
OK, the date for the iPhone was just announced: June 29
Hmm, that’s my birthday. Coincidence? A sign?
the screen is not as user friendly as the iphone and more expensive than the iphone. The only thing I was hoping for is support for user apps. which it does not.
the iphone does not supper user apps, but it has some kind of widgets support; which maybe enough
Both this and the iPhone look pretty neat, but I am holding out for a Neo1973 powered by openmoko
I was too but I ran out of patience. Maybe on commercial release of the neo1973 in September(?).
The Prada phone’s main benefit seems to be as a status symbol more than a functional device. The reviewer had multiple use problems with most positive statements revolving around superficial functions.
It will be interesting to see what the blogosphere think of the iPhone once it is released. At least by hype the iPhone seems to have form and function down as well as being a status symbol.
So it looks like you can play audio/video files with these things, stream media, take pictures, record memos, manage contacts and todo lists, etc. But the one question I have to ask is:
When will they come out with a phone that not only does dishes for you, but the person talking on it doesn’t sound like ass to someone used to the quality of a landline phone?
Edited 2007-06-04 01:11
Uh… when the US will convert to a cellphone standard that works, like GSM or UMTS?
’cause it’s only CDMA, AFAIK, that sounds awful.
My Treo600 sounds as good as my landline… I’m using Sprint.
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I keep my opinion that in no way is the Prada a competitor of the iPhone. Two very different markets, strategies, technologies and objectives.
The only reason why people tend to compare the two is because of the big screen + flashy UI, but both phones don’t really play in the same league.
The LG Prada is mostly a ‘fashion’ phone. Doesn’t compete in any way with Apple’s iPhone.
The LG Prada is mostly a ‘fashion’ phone. Doesn’t compete in any way with Apple’s iPhone.
The Prada is designed to be fashionable by a fashion label. The iPhone will be trendy and a “must have” just like the iPod, by that virtue being fashionable itself.
Both LG and Apple are aiming for the same market segment – just in different ways.
@ JCooper
I totally disagree. The market segment is not the same. The Prada reminds me of the Siemens Xelibri line with just an added “wow”. Just a test case by LG.
The iPhone will mainly be positioned as a Smartphone with Safari’s rich HTML web browsing, networked widget compatibility, support for POP3/IMAP email (and push email via Yahoo’s expected IMAP support for iPhone users), the integration with Google apps (Google Earth and Gooth Maps for now), services integration with cingular/AT&T (Visual Voicemail), 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, etc.
I can’t see one single reason for anyone to try to position both devices in the same league. The LG Prada is not iPhone competitor.
NOTE: Notice I didn’t mention the rich multimedia experience (integrated video iPod functions, iTunes sync, full screen movies, etc.), the multitouch screen, the screen resolution and other details. My point is that the other specs alone already position the iPhone outside of the “fashion” or “trendy” phones world and make it a competitor in the smartphones world.
My point is that the other specs alone already position the iPhone outside of the “fashion” or “trendy” phones world and make it a competitor in the smartphones world.
They are not mutually exclusive.
Disclaimer – I have strong links with Korea and usually do all I can to promote the place.
On the one hand it’s a great shame that the reviewer wasn’t able to test internet speeds: in South Korea, they are lucky enough to have some of the most widespread and powerful networks (wired and wireless) on the planet and I can imagine that this phone will shine more in its native land perhaps than elsewhere, if only for this reason.
On the other hand, I personally have despaired at the seeming inability of LG to produce phones that connect and sync naturally and easily with desktops. The reviewer I think only mentioned syncing with regard to music applications, but in overall terms this is one aspect of my LG phone experience that would keep me away – even if I did have the moolah to be in the market for either one of these or an iPhone.
While there’s absolutely no guarantee that Apple’s phone will be all that successful, the LG KE850 strikes me as the kind of second-rate knockoff you’d expect from the competitors to a market leader. Even though in this case the putative market-leading product has not yet been released.
There is still all to play for if – a big if – Apple can release a phone with flawless software and perfect integration with other hardware, like your PC, and with other software, like the growing hordes of googleware. Compared to this ideal, my Nokia phone has pretty awful, buggy software, the carrier has then mangled it badly too and added crude and vulgar branding, integration with the desktop is weak and battery life and build quality are nothing special. To cap it all, the software seems a little too much for the phone’s processor, too, so it is rather slow. Even so, under present arrangements this is as good as it gets. Yes, and in some countries, a Trabant was once as good as it got as well.
A flawless product is an ideal, of course. The question is, can Apple produce something that is a “good enough” step up from the bugware and crippleware that passes for the mobile phone market today? If so, another goldmine awaits them.
In the meantime, imho, the LG KE850 and its international Prada branding (a brain-dead lowest common denominator of a branding) will probably do quite well alongside the diamond-encrusted whatsits at airport duty-free shops throughout the Middle and Far Easts.
I read a lot of the extensive review but the lasting impression I got is that the software is as bad as most phones.
While it allows you to get things done, it’s difficult to do those things. Phones like this are supposedly the reason the iPhone exists. (I suspect large profits have something to do with it also.)
So many phones are so difficult to use and the integration so weak, it’s no wonder people are always switching and phone trading sites exist.
What does good hardware matter if it’s almost painful to use? Whoever is fashion-concious will consider it but they’ll regret it as much as a bad pair of shoes.
Reminds me of witchcraft days.
I guess the Devil does still wear prada.