Hands-on with the LG KS20

Putting Windows Mobile 6's user interface at ease with fat fingers is a monumental challenge -- but it's not a challenge manufacturers are shying away from. Perhaps they see devices like the iPhone as a threat they can't ignore any longer, or perhaps they're simply tired of waiting for Microsoft to roll something truly revolutionary, but at any rate, companies like HTC with its TouchFLO interface are doing pretty much everything they can to keep the stylus firmly locked away. That's where the LG KS20 comes into play, which steals as much of the Viewty's identity as it can while still keeping Windows Mobile 6 under the hood.

LG's effort results in limited success. The home screen is about as attractive as any we've seen on a WinMo 6 Professional handset, but it's not particularly useful beyond the plain-vanilla functionality beyond what you'd see on any device in this class. No big, pretty clock, no weather widget -- just a nice color scheme and a four-pack of touchable buttons above the two regular soft keys. Hitting the right three buttons will take you to the normal dialer, messaging, and browser apps, respectively, while the leftmost button takes you to another Viewty-esque display for launching apps. It's nice, but we noticed that it's not difficult to confuse the phone into reverting back to the normal, stock launcher, which looks starkly out of place in this glossy beaut.

As usual, the lack of North American HSDPA is a dismal downside, too. Bottom line? It's a great looking device -- but don't expect LG to have worked any miracles with the platform.