LG officially calling Apple's iPhone a copycat?
By Darren Murph 
posted February 14th 2007 5:13AM
posted February 14th 2007 5:13AM
One doesn't need look hard look at Apple's iPhone to see the similarities between it and LG's Prada (KE850), but now the momentous whispers have finally gotten to the head of LG Mobile Handset R&D Center, and it's on. While Apple fights its meager battles with trademarks, and we're left to wonder just how much loot Jobs and friends stand to make off this thing, Woo-Young Kwak has reportedly dubbed the iPhone an outright "copycat" of the device that won the International Forum Design Product Design Award. Of course, there are those out there trying to maintain the peace, as Mr. Kang-Heui Cha, Senior Manager of MC Design Research Lab, has stated that LG's handset "focused on interfaces," while Cupertino's pride and joy "emphasized a music phone concept" -- but even that seems like a weak argument at best. But hey, Steve's already voiced his opinion on the highly controversial "to DRM or not to DRM" issue, so we 
Do they actually think that Apple made working protypes in less than a month?
Kind of rich coming from LG seeing as most of their earlier models hardware/UI are a total rip off of Samsung's
Its $800 without a contract, so you can just buy the phone and be done with it. In the U.K. the handset will momre than likely be heavily subsidised by the networks and will probably be 'free' with a 12 or 18 month contract (not a 2 year one which is favoured in the US).
I just don't see what is similar with the two handsets, sure both have a touchscreen interface, but the styling isnt all that similar, the LG is a fashion handset. You might as well compare the iPhone to a HTC (having touchscreens and all)
I'm liking the KE850, will probably pick one up until the Apple comes out (end of 2007) and this will fit the bill.
Of course LG is going to say what they have, they aren't about to badmouth their own products, and it probably gets their backs up that anything with a touchscreen is being touted as a 'copy' of Apple even though they probably had similar design times.
Hello my name is Larry Gardner. Why did LG use my name for their company?
Idiot, LG was a company even before you were born.
LG = Lucky Goldstar
Apple are working on the phone for more than 2 years, and two weeks before the keynote they say quick back to the drawing board; we want our phone to look like that phone made by LG.
Although I agree that it's highly unlikely that one can come up with a working model in a month or so, it didn't stop all those who screamed "it's an iPhone copycat!!!!"
Hey, some even called (I think including Engadget) LG Prada phone a copycat of iPhone. I guess it might be a preemptive move by LG because of the stupid 'LG copied Apple' nonsense rather than they really think Apple copied them. This way, at least, they can silence the ignorants who think LG a copycat.
I think this shows that apple is starting to slip up. Normally Apple will muscle distributors into giving them first dibs on technology (like intel did with the core duo). And even if their idea isnt completely original atleast they make it to the market first. Leaving everybody else to be "copy cats". But it looks like LG might make it to market first with the touch screen super phone. Get your act together Apple.
Its hard to call LG copy cats if they make it to market first. Whether they did copy Apple or vice-versa.
I don't understand why everyone is acting like touch screen is a new technology, there are loads of touch screen phones. Apple has Multi Touch, this is the new technology.
The iPhone is not a copy of the LG... point blank fact.
And yes the Meizu M8 is a shameless copy of the iPhone, both in form factor and OS.
apple are innovators not orignators. no more to say.
People tend to have a bad memory when it comes to history. Apple has a history of being a copycat. Let's not forget the mouse and GUI that came from Xerox PARC after a few Apple engineers visited the Xerox R+D facility.
Perhaps a few Apple engineers visited LG R+D and got some ideas two years ago :)
Wouldn't it be a real surprise to discover if perhaps either LG or Samsung are the real manufacturers of the iPhone?
The Xerox story is not nearly so simple. The way some people describe it, you'd think that the Apple team visited Xerox, saw the Xerox Alto/Star/Smalltalk stuff (the computer with GUI) and basically just created a direct copy of it. In reality, what they saw did definitely give them ideas of a new direction, but they basically took the Xerox work as a starting point (and remember that the mouse had been invented much earlier, as had windowing systems, etc.). The actual way the Xerox stuff worked was pretty different, and some of the things that inspired the Apple guys didn't actually work like they thought they did. For example, in the Xerox demo, there were overlapping windows, and the Apple guys naturally assumed that it was capable of doing that, and they spent a lot of time figuring out how to do it on their side. In reality, the overlapping windows in the Xerox demo were basically a trick. Anyway though, the main idea here is that they were definitely inspired by the GUI work they saw, but the Apple team did contribute a lot of new and long-lasting ideas about how the GUI should actually work in practice (if you go back and look at the original Xerox PARC stuff, you will see a lot of differences). The other big thing is that Xerox never really knew what to do with the work they were doing; they seemed to only see it as relevant for incredibly big and expensive business machines, but not so much for the consumer or "regular user" type of market. This is probably one of the biggest reasons why the Xerox and Apple approaches to the GUI were so different. Not to mention that Xerox never really seemed to know what do with all the cool stuff being developed at Xerox PARC (which ultimately did leave to many people to leave Xerox, including a number who left to go work at Apple on the Mac).
This is a hard proof that most of young people in this country can't use their common-sense.
How can anyone accepts the idea that the design of a very sophiscated electronic device like that of the iPhone can be finalized in matter of 3- months period and have it working flawlessly.
The future of this great country lies upon your ability to think using your common-sense and intelligence. Don't swallow any nonsense like that of LG. Otherwise you will be incapable of leading this country in the right direction.
Wake up!
Zadillo, have a look at this of Wikipedia (I think you should do a bit of an update there?):
The GUIs familiar to most people today are the Microsoft Windows, Macintosh, or the X Window System interfaces. Their applications originated at the Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center) in the late 1970s and was copied by Apple who used it in their first Macintosh computers. Later IBM and Microsoft borrowed many of Apple's ideas to develop the Common User Access specifications, which formed the basis of the user interface found in Microsoft Windows, IBM OS/2 Presentation Manager, and the Unix Motif toolkit and window manager. These ideas evolved to create the interface found in current versions of the Windows operating system, as well as inspiring new features in Mac OS X and various desktop environments for Unix-like systems. Thus most current graphical user interfaces have largely common idioms.
multi-touch isnt "new" and apple didnt invent it... they will just use the existing tech int their new phone... which remains to be seen if thats even a going to be a good idea... once i lay two of my fat fingers onto the surface of that device there isnt much room left for "gesturing"
Multitouch isn't new and it hasn't proven itself to be useful for anything. Yes, the iPhone has it but you'd be hard-pressed to find it anywhere in the UI. In all of Apple's iPhone demos it appeared exactly once and in a relatively useless manipulation of a photo at that. Apple has yet to prove why anyone would want to touch a 3.5' screen with more than one finger.
So the king of copying calls Apple copycats, now that is rich! All my cheap LG equipment at home looks like copies of other more expensive electronics. Not complaining, just finds it a bit ironic that LG of all people are calling someone else a copycat.
This story has inspired the most rabid fanboydom I have yet to read. In less than 10 posts its degenerated into who invested the GUI. Get over it already. Its obvious neither phone is a copy of the other due to development time. This is likely a publicity stunt. Seems to be working.
yep I am a little frothy round the mouth -_-
take those razr look alikes for example-they are the king of xeroxing others ideas.
btw, any phone branded with some non tech company for attention will most likely be a flop
Seriously - So what if Apple copied an idea from LG or vice-versa! This is a free market where some of the best ideas are started with an idea or someone else's example. If there was any copying going on, it's more likely that the company said "Hey - nice phone...but, I bet we could do it better!" Regardless, proof will be in the patents. Who has a patent for the technology behind the device.
But, really - ever clam shell phone looks like the next - so, where are the complaints there? They all have a screen, they all have a keypad and they all do the same thing...make phone calls on a specified cellular network. Bring out both phones and let's all be happy!! Stop the pissing contest and just release the damn phones already!
So ironic. Apple fans, the same fans who spend most of their lives accusing other electronic manufacturers as rip-offs of one of their products. Now they are being defensive and saying, " So what if they look alike? ". Funny stuff.
I didn't say they invented it I said Apple has it... and compared to other touch interfaces it is new.
idiot does everyone have fat fingers like u if u cant use multitouch go use something else why u blame multitouch blame ur fingers hahah
This is clearly a response to Apple and their fans in the media who have been crying for at least a month that LG copied Apple which is frankly even more ridiculous.
I'm not claiming anyone copied anyone because I couldn't care less. It's childish. But Apple has played this childish game for decades. The difference here is Apple is jumping into a mature market and claiming others are copying them.
If anyone can find a single idea that Apple did first it would truly be a rare thing. And if anyone believes that their last offerings, a phone and a slingbox knockoff are original ideas then you must have been living off-planet for a few years. But again who cares except Apple who if they follow history will be claiming in a year that slingbox copied them.
LOL. Quite right. Such Hypocrites.
The LG design is FAAAAAR unlike the Apple design and certainly the LG design seems primitive and prehistoric on the ease of use and software side compaired to Apple. How can one else convenience a customer with the power of apple software other than a large screen ???!!?? The money hungry far eastern chaps know how to copy and make stuff but got all their existence from the creative minds in the west. We all know that and so do they. Now they are running a fine line to get the legality of "design" on their side to increase sales ? Well let me add a personal note: let them first get their own legal systems sorted out in the sense of complying with WTO regulations and root out the incestuous links between business and politics (everywhere but there it is a pandemic) and start playing according to the rules establishing an equal playing field. They need to respect others more which supposingly is part of their culture. Practice shows a different worrying mentality from the Far East - except Japan. Cheers,
Hypocrites(some of the iphone defenders)
LG is just giving Apple a tatse of its own "superior mentality" medicine.
LG is just giving Apple a taste of its own "superior mentality" medicine.
wow, that was the worst analogy that i have ever seen. Have you actually seen both phones? because from that paragraph youre talking out your ass.
They are different... The LG Prada is far Superior to the iPhone