Hands-on with iriver's 3-inch touchscreen phone

We bumped into iriver at CES this year, but they took the unnamed GSM phone away from us pretty quickly. We had a chance to actually get some pictures at Mobile World Congress, and it's not a half-bad looking handset. Head on over to Engadget Mobile for the gallery, come on, we know you want to.

[Drew @ Feb 12th 2008 3:35PM]

Well with that recessed screen if you drop it face down it is well protected, but I hope that is a home button on the bottom, because those 4-way nipples never work out...

[Cahlito @ Feb 12th 2008 3:40PM]

its a nipple allright

[Abuzar @ Feb 12th 2008 11:28PM]

That looks like a cross between a HTC Wizard and nipples.

[A-Deca @ Feb 12th 2008 3:46PM]

Regardless of each person's opinion on the iPhone (I don't own one, at least yet), I can't help but notice how much impact the Apple phone has on hardware and software design...
Notice how many recent phones inevitably tend to look like the iPhone insted of the limited old design?

Long live competition, death to monopoly: it's the only way to (technical) progress.

[Argot @ Feb 12th 2008 4:13PM]

Have you ever noticed how much impact the LG Prada had on the iPhone and almost every phone since then?

[A-Deca @ Feb 12th 2008 4:22PM]

Yep, and this one started it all:

http://www.retrobrick.com/moto8000.html

:-)

[Iain @ Feb 12th 2008 5:44PM]

Regardless as to your opinion of the iPhone, it's only influence on the W10 is the addition of phone features. The design has been the same for over a year, before the iPhone was even announced: http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/04/iriver-set-to-launch-w10-clix2-and-b20-at-ces/

[Adam @ Feb 12th 2008 4:09PM]

Yeah, the nipple buttons always worked alright to begin with but any sort of wear and tear just brought them down. I agree with Drew though, nice screen protection and to add to that, I love simple designs, they always, just work.

[channy @ Feb 12th 2008 3:50PM]

LG Viewty anyone?

[Shan @ Feb 12th 2008 3:55PM]

If anybody wants a phone that looks like an mp3 player - iRiver are the guys!

[Cesar Cardoso @ Feb 12th 2008 4:02PM]

Icons look like LG Prada.

[danny @ Feb 12th 2008 4:04PM]

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this but can you deny the extreme similarities there to the iPhone? Not saying they copied, but just look at that keypad. I love my iPhone though :-)

[Sim @ Feb 12th 2008 5:36PM]

Wow, a touch screen keypad that fills most of the screen and has the keys in the normal configuration, with an easily seen and simple desgin scheme?

ZOMG APPLE FAKEAGE.

Looks more LG-esque to me. The clock typeface and some of the graphics (4-link bottom bar etc) seem near identical to my Viewty, and from what i remember of the Prada (before iphone, remember folks) not far off that either.

[danny @ Feb 12th 2008 5:46PM]

Hey all... Above is exactly why I prefaced my comment with "I'll probably get flamed for this".

I was just stating a fact. Not asserting that one copied from the other. My breadth of cell phone interface knowledge is apparently not as expansive as yours. My sincerest apologies......

[Iain @ Feb 12th 2008 5:50PM]

Similar or not, the W10's design was actually finalised before the iPhone was even announced: http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/04/iriver-set-to-launch-w10-clix2-and-b20-at-ces/

[danny @ Feb 12th 2008 5:56PM]

And that is a gorgeous phone... but I actually hadn't seen it before. Has that been released yet?

[danny @ Feb 12th 2008 5:56PM]

Woah woah. FAIL on my part. Did not realize that was a media player ;)

[bertbusdriver @ Feb 12th 2008 5:14PM]

is it me or does the back of the device say "W7"? (look at little white plastic display thingy in the picture of the phone on the dock, and look at the picture of the back of the device) Didn't iriver just release a PMP that was called the W7? Maybe they just modified the hardware and firmware on a W7 in order to make a prototype/concept phone?

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/10/irivers-w7-now-available/
^
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This is the PMP called the iriver W7. It looks identical to the phone pictured above except for the GUI.

[Iain @ Feb 12th 2008 5:48PM]

Pfff...
I can trump your link with one that's 11 months older: http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/04/iriver-set-to-launch-w10-clix2-and-b20-at-ces/

Originally, iRiver announced the wi-fi-capable W10 at CES last year but never quite got round to releasing it.
It would seem that, since then, they decided to make the W10 a full-blown phone (a la the iPhone) and released a stripped-down version (sans phone features or wi-fi) as the W7 in the mean time.

[DP @ Feb 12th 2008 5:42PM]

Sorry, still on a Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 high.

[dakillerweasel @ Feb 12th 2008 6:17PM]

Is it just me or does the interface look a lot like the p2. i thought it was at first. If only my p2 was a phone.....

[Taire @ Feb 12th 2008 6:06PM]

I have to say, this is a pretty poor attempt. This thing is huge. Its much bigger than the Nokia N85 which is a brick. Cmon Iriver, you can surely come up with something svelte. Another key thing people seem to miss is how tightly integrated the media functionality of the iphone is. A lot of the iphone's allure is in the well packaged software. Its dead simple to use... a lot of these companies are going to have to do a lot better than releasing such products with great hardware and crappy integrated UI. I am sorry but none of these phones do it for me. Sony XPERIA, great hardware, really nice screen, crappy OS (windows mobile). I dont care how well you polish a turd, its still a turd. I am rather shocked that people still get off on great hardware. Yes a phone has GPS, DMB, 3G and all that great stuff, but without decent software, all the novelty will wear off.
Why cant people understand that the iphone is not special because of its hardware or its looks, they are special because of the really nice software that caters to the average consumer (i.e not technophiles that want to SSH and FTP off their phones)...
btw I dont have an iphone (but i have a 30gb 5G Ipod Video). I actually have a treo650 that works just fine as an organizer (for the basics) and as a bludgeoning device ...so spare me the Apple fan or steve jobs jokes. I am just stating the obvious from a consumer stand point of view

[o rly @ Feb 13th 2008 2:58AM]

It seems like you're bitching in the wrong thread.

[Taire @ Feb 13th 2008 9:10AM]

Oh Really !!!

[Taire @ Feb 12th 2008 6:06PM]

Just testing my comments

[Brian @ Feb 12th 2008 6:44PM]

The iRiver Monolith.

Seriously, that thing is a brick. My Zune has a better form factor for being a cellphone.

[huh @ Feb 12th 2008 7:03PM]

I think that the modern smartphone has reached a plateau, they each lag in some ways but basically what a consumer can do with each is the same. We're waiting for next generation features, built in projectors, constant high speed internet (and host - host internet, no more one offs), with portable data and software (just kidding). But who will solve problems like input? A full size keyboard is best, today. In the 90s there was a commodity service that was a one button press to a voice general operator, is that the only answer to the keyboard?

[softdev @ Feb 12th 2008 8:13PM]

whats the brand of that touch screen phone? http://www.kanati.com.ph