LG's KE850 PRADA official: iPhone says, wha?

Check it Apple, LG just went official with their iPhone look-a-like LG KE850 Prada phone which they proudly tout as the world's "first completely touch screen mobile phone." Er, unless you consider the ones from Motorola, HTC, and others. Still, this is more than likely a dig at the iPhone which they can rightly make since the KE850 will hit select mobile shops and PRADA stores in the UK, France, Germany and Italy at the end of February and parts of Asia before March is through. Sadly, the KE850 is a non starter for the US market since this version is limited to tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900 with EDGE data. It's smaller than its fruity peer at just 98.8 x 54 x 12-mm resulting in a more compact, 3.0-inch display presumably with that 240 x 400 resolution we heard about earlier. In case you're keeping track (and we know you are), the iPhone goes quad-band GSM with EDGE and WiFi in a 115 x 61 x 11.6-mm shell sporting a 3.5-inch, 320 x 480 display. Also, the KE850 seems to lack any significant on-board storage opting instead for microSD to boost capacity. Like the iPhone, it packs a 2 megapixel camera (with Schneider-Kreuznach lens and LED flash) and Bluetooth 2.0. However, there's no mention of multi-touch capabilities, an on-screen keyboard, or the accelerometer and proximity sensors found on the iPhone. The KE850 PRADA's UI is Macromedia Flash-based and opts for a minimalist, white-on-black display as opposed to the more, shall we say, OS Xish GUI we've already seen floated. Feature-wise, the KE850 comes with a video player supporting MPEG-4, H.264, and oddly, H.263 normally used for video conferencing; a document viewer supporting Microsoft's PPT, DOC, XLS formats, PDF and TXT; an audio player with support for MP3/ACC/ACC+/WMA/RA formats; and a "music multitasking function for messaging," whatever that is. How much? €600/$778... that's how much. Still, a compelling choice for those who can't wait for the iPhone's Q4 European introduction or 2008 Asia launch. Click-on for more pics.

[Via AVING]

[Filip L @ Jan 18th 2007 5:16AM]

it looks beautiful.

[LooseJuice @ Nov 28th 2007 2:50PM]

The girl in the picture above has the biggest man hand i have ever seen.

[3rdsun @ Jan 18th 2007 5:31AM]

Apple launching in US, LG launching everywhere else. Let the games begin

[Gil @ Jan 18th 2007 5:37AM]

You can certainly see the Prada design. It really is beautiful.

BTW isn't the US market something like 5-10% of the global mobile phone market?

[normis @ Jan 18th 2007 5:38AM]

oh, the price :) apple ftw

[Adrian @ Jan 18th 2007 5:44AM]

It does actually look pretty good - especially the black GUI. Button free? Yeah, right! So why does it have 'call answer' and 'call end' buttons below the screen.

My opinion is that the silver-like buttons work against the whole minimalist look. i think the iPhone is more capable than this - and it's bigger size makes it more useful too. I've heard a lot of people complaining about LG's phones build quality.

[Madison @ Feb 6th 2007 3:30PM]

I totally agree

[Topi @ Jan 18th 2007 5:49AM]

It's total bullsh** when LG says that they are the first.. Check out this device back from 2003:

http://www.mobileburn.com/review.jsp?Id=547

[Kichigai Mentat @ Jan 22nd 2007 1:17AM]

Yeah, I think that's mentioned in the article too...

[Simon @ Jan 18th 2007 5:54AM]

"The KE850 comes with a video player supporting MPEG4, H.264, and H.263 for video conferencing"

Lets get this right. How does it have support for video conferencing when this phone doesnt even have a secondary camera neither 3G or HSDPA in the slightest sense?

Though it is bloody sexy phone

[ronturon @ Jan 18th 2007 6:00AM]

Correction.

"...Like the iPod, it packs a 2 megapixel camera..."

You mean the iPhone, right? And I'm still pre-ordering the iPhone.

[keeneyes @ Jul 9th 2007 2:50AM]

hey are your eyes blurred ??? it says clearly "Like the IPHONE, it packs a 2 megapixel camera "

[Bill @ Jan 18th 2007 6:03AM]

I don't know about the phone...

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Jan 18th 2007 6:04AM]

> opting instead for microSD

That's alone is already well worth any promise of Apple.

Simon wrote:
> How does it have support for video conferencing when this phone doesnt even have a secondary camera neither 3G or HSDPA in the slightest sense?

What about Wi-Fi? I have "investigated" my opportunities for video conferencing/alike, and I can say that anyway you look at it - video isn't easy. You always have to prepare environment - random video chat in random place is total waste of bandwidth: you see nothing - your partner(s) see nothing - good if everybody can hear each other.

Probably in future - with some video/voice enhancing technologies and advanced noise cancelation, random phone video conf would be Okay. But right now IMHO it is waste.

[pkr @ Jan 18th 2007 9:14AM]

The problem with those removable drives is that the manufacturers never fully support the newest cards. So in LG's case you're most likely stuck with a 2gb max card or the ever so irritating card-swapping… I take the integrated 8gb any day.

[Yannik @ Jan 18th 2007 6:06AM]

The phone being GSM does not preclude it from being used in North America.

[Thomas Ricker @ Jan 18th 2007 6:14AM]

Simon,

I updated the text. Didn't mean to imply that it worked for video conferencing, only that it included the H.263 video codec normally associated with VC.

Yannik,

True, but it lacks support for GSM 850 thereby limiting coverage and providers.

Thomas

[Eric @ Jan 19th 2007 7:51AM]

Hahaha Thomas. You guys need to double check before posting ur blogs. Same goes with my previous comment :S Must've been too much bad english from watching english dubbed chinese martial arts movies =P

It still doesn't make sense when phone manufacturers stick a second camera on their phones for VC...

[Hyp @ Jan 18th 2007 6:58AM]

It dont have Wifi ????

[treetrunk @ Jan 18th 2007 7:02AM]

Could engadget please stop using Apple as the benchmark for everything? LG unveiled the KE850 nearly a month before Apple unveiled the iPhone, yet the LG is the "lookalike"? How's that fair?

As Yannik pointed out, a tri-band phone will work in America. Yes, it limits your network options, but the iPhone will only "officially" be available on one network also, "thereby limiting coverage and providers".

Also, why the negative spin on expandable storage?

[abc @ Jan 18th 2007 8:03AM]

"Could engadget please stop using Apple as the benchmark for everything?"
It IS the benchmark as a) everybody knows the iPhone, b) specs have been available for some time now, something that cannot be said about the KE850.

"Also, why the negative spin on expandable storage?"
Because you can add another $100.

[Luet1991 @ Jul 5th 2007 8:23AM]

look, apple was the first because apple had been planning on making the iPhone for a LOOOONG time, they just kept it neatly tucked away so they could surprise the world, which they did.

[lauri.smith @ Jan 18th 2007 7:09AM]

"and oddly, H.263 normally used for video conferencing" ... excuse me? Has anyone EVER seen a phone capable of playing video that DIDN'T support H.263?

[YukonDawg @ Jan 18th 2007 7:19AM]

Hey Engadget...you might want to correct your article as T-Mobile operates primarily on the 900/1900 GSM bands in the U.S. This phone will work just fine in all T-Mobile coverage areas.

Maybe this is our booby prize for getting screwed by Apple ;)

[barrowman @ Jan 18th 2007 7:55AM]

Again it just goes to show you, that once the hoopla dies down, and the iPhone really is available in Europe, it will probably be pretty passé.

Yup I'm still p*ssed about Mac(iPhone)world this year having nothing for Mac's in it.

[Jay @ Jan 18th 2007 8:02AM]

"...their iPhone look-a-like LG KE850 Prada phone..."

Has someone altered the space-time continuum or is Engadget just ignoring the facts and lapping up Apple/Jobs propaganda. Again.

Hang on, there'll be an anti-Sony article any minute now. And one where Jobs claims they invented the internet. And it will be reported favourably here.

[Darryl @ Jan 18th 2007 3:34PM]

With Verizonwireless leading the U.S in sales in really disturbs me that the newest lastest hottest phones go on junk networks like TM or Cingular. CDMA is the strongest most reliable network in the U.S Tried and Tested! C, mon and give us something better than that cheap Chocolate

[rav @ Jan 18th 2007 8:16AM]

Im personally not a fan of LG but this looks great. Would love to see a comparative analysis though. How does it compare to Moto Q, blackjack etc..

But here is one site that compared the Moto Q, blackjack, Treo & iPhone.

http://www.zolved.com/blog/view_entry/20146/Is_the_iPhone_better_than_Moto_Q_Blackjack__Treo_a_quick_

When will you guys do this?

[MLK @ Jan 18th 2007 8:33AM]

Typical LG junk and self-delusional hype as being a 'market innovator' of some sort. Practically every component they use is a foreign invention, while Apple had been developing the iPhone software and design for at least 2 1/2 years. LG in all likelihood simply got wind and decided to copy Apple by releasing its comparatively cheap looking and low tech copy.

As one poster noted, the Finns beat both companies to the punch by 3 years for claim of world's first touch screen phone. But iPhone's revolutionary UI, iPod compatability, Muti-touch interface, OSX, proximity sensor, rich HTML browsing (not WAP) and many other high tech innovations already make the LG clone look like something from 5 years ago. I'll wait 'til June and get the real thing from Jobs & Co, thanks.

It wouldn't be the first time a Korean company has copied Cupertino. Last year Samsung was taken to court for illegally using Apple icons in its phone menus. It might have a similar look on the outside but the software running on the LG copy is lame and simply years behind the iPhone. LG have again mistaken that the revolution Apple demonstrated last week is in function, not just form.

[boxface @ Jan 18th 2007 11:08AM]

@MLK

You either work for Apple, or are just an idiot. You dismiss LG as "self-delusional hype" but then proceed to call the iPhone a "revolution"! What's actually "revolutionary" or NEW about the iPhone?

To me, it certainly isn't the multi-touch interface which was invented by someone else; the eventual mobile version of a 6 year-old OS; or the iTunes compatability which has already been done. Neither is it the size-of-an-iPod size but size-of-a-nano capacity; camera which everyone has; HTML browser which has been done before; or piece-de-resistance proximity sensor.

In fact, for me, the only things I could think of which might be useful improvements over my current phone are the looks-better-than-Opera web browser and cooler (if not little more functional) interface. These are MORE than offset by the major features it lacks, such as the lack of 3G (why have such a nice browser but only be able to use it at decent speed when you're in range of wifi?) and external memory.

[ian @ Oct 5th 2007 3:36PM]

MLK, you've obviously been brainwashed by the slick marketing of Apple. You're
fast to bash other companies as copycats but you forgot that apple was forced to
pay Creative Zen for $400 Million (if i remember correctly) for infringing some of
its patents for mp3 players. So who's the BIG copycat? You may not want to admit it
but its Apple!!!!

[xzavier @ Jan 18th 2007 8:55AM]

I don't know about that comment "first completely touch screen mobile phone." I use to have a Motorola 388c and guess what... it was touch screen only!

[Andy @ Jan 18th 2007 9:24AM]

Two questions:

1. Who's the chick in the picture?

2. What are her digits?

[J. R. @ Jan 18th 2007 9:54AM]

Is it just me, or does that model look like Jordan Capri?

[jonesy @ Jan 18th 2007 9:32AM]

Yup have to agree on the fact that this article makes it look like an iPhone lookalike.

It was anounced BEFORE the iPhone, has already won design awards and to those saying it is expensive that is more than likely the price in Europe without any network connection (which are usually only 12 or 18 months anyway). With a connection the price will be considerably lower through the network subsidies.

If the rumblings about Apple partnering up with Vodafone are true in UK/Europe, and the handset is not available unlocked then it looks like this one will be the handset i'll be picking up (shame as wouldn't have minded passing on my Nano to have the 8GB version).

[J. R. @ Jan 18th 2007 9:53AM]

Is it just me, or does that model look like Jordan Capri?

[Miguel @ Jan 18th 2007 3:11PM]

J. R.--

The model did look familiar and I didn't know why, but I had no idea who Jordan Capri was, and so googled the name. Two words: not work-friendly.

Thank you for perpetuating the stereotype of geeks reading Engadget looking at pr0n.

As for the phone: no quad-band, no WiFi, no 3G--in Europe! Even the iPhone beats this, and that is one seriously over-hyped piece of tech.

[James @ Jan 18th 2007 10:02AM]

No, iPhone desn't say wha? because Apple already knew about this phone before they launched theirs. You know that. We know that. (Question is for how long before....?)

How much does Jobs pay you guys?

[ShadowHawk01 @ Jan 18th 2007 10:06AM]

wow... I think they should wait and release it once they get manufacturing to the point where they can lower the price a bit.

[Joe Davenport @ Jan 18th 2007 10:12AM]

Apple: PLEASE release the iPhone so that engadget will shut up about it. Why does EVERY post have to be referenced to the iPhone. This is worse than the over-hyped Q hysteria.

[Xinyu @ Jan 18th 2007 10:41AM]

Apple iPhone deserves all this hype, and it will live up to it when it arrives. Don't be fooled by another phone that might look like an iPhone, that's where the similarity ends.

[kev @ Jan 18th 2007 10:50AM]

Who cares--it's not playing to be the iPhone. When are you people going to understand that? The only similarities are that they're DESIGNER* cellphones and are using touchscreens only.

The iPhone will live up to the hype from its base consumers and those that don't more than the base specifications coming from Apple.

* You have to be stupid to think that Apple's devices have not been designer electronics so far--they're appealing to the mass market, not the smarter hundreth...thousandth of us. They're looking for people who want easy design, need for little technical knowledge, and giving the illusion of not having to know anything else (which is a nightmare to those who know anything).

I'm not ripping on the iPhone for what it isn't, but I'm stating what it is. If you're hyped up for it, good for you. Frankly I'm sticking with my crappy Treo 650 and my seperate iPod 5G (which sucks by the way), unless I want to splurge a signing bonus on that. I'd rather spend it on an ultraportable laptop. :P

[o rly @ Jan 18th 2007 11:02AM]

@ abc : "It IS the benchmark ... b) specs have been available for some time now, something that cannot be said about the KE850."

really? what kind of processor and how many Mhz/Ghz is the iPhone running at?
iDiot

lol @ iPhone being the benchmark... maybe when it uses current technology it will be.

[giedrys @ Jan 18th 2007 11:08AM]

That's a $300 phone, the rest goes as a donation to the Prada brand.

[js @ Jan 18th 2007 11:35AM]

Well it's a known fact that engadget editors have been Apple fanboys... just look at the CES coverage at http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/12/viiva-las-vegas-the-engadget-crew-departs-ces/ , scroll halfway down... they are using Macbooks!!!

[uno @ Jan 18th 2007 11:36AM]

"iphone look alike"? hello! nobody knew anything about the i phone 2 weeks ago. not unless LG has a time machine!

[Kurt @ Jan 18th 2007 11:44AM]

while I agree that it isn't a knockoff the iPhone is much nicer. It lacks a lot of the features of the iPhone for (more than likely) a significantly lower price.

It is Java based vs OSX based I would much prefer the OSX based one as it can do all the Java one can do and more. I think the only thing I like about this one is SDmicro card. I just saw someone released a 4gb card so I would assume by the time the iPhone comes out the cards will probably be larger than the 8gb offered by Apple.

Nonetheless I am a T-Mobile subscriber so i can't get the iPhone anyway

[kernel @ Jan 18th 2007 12:13PM]

This PRADA will work with other companies? because the iPhone wil work only with CINGULAR (or AT&T).

[djfred @ Jan 18th 2007 12:14PM]

I was scoping this thing out even prior to macworld with an eye to replacing my bulky Sony-Ericsson V600 with something a little more pocketable.
Now that the iPhone's been released my impressions are that it's still way pretty, but if the interface was anywhere near as slick as Apple's LG would be doing a lot more to promote it. I personally don't think relying on outboard storage is a disadvantage, but $170-270 is a petty big premium for a few months jump start, especially for a phone without WiFi and 850mhz.
And releasing a phone with EDGE makes some sense in the US market since the extremely sparse coverage probably doesn't justify the trade-off in added weight and bulk, but in Europe with wall-to wall 3G?
I think I'll be making the wait until June.

JR -Only in that she has eyes, hair, nose, a mouth.
Joe -Sorry you're so freaked out about it but, yes, a touch screen "fashion phone with music and video playing capabilty and a at least superficially similar feature set is going to be compared to the iPhone. Get over it.
Kev -You're right, but 3 pleases? You gotta save something for really imporrtant issues like begging for your life ..........or a new iPhone. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[Callum Alden @ Jan 18th 2007 1:04PM]

"first completely touch screen mobile phone"

yeah, i love the two very real buttons, for send / exit. great use of touch-screen there. i mean. yeah. :(