LG Prada 2 with slide-out QWERTY keyboard
(Credit: Nicole Lee/CNET)
The LG Prada 2 isn't new, of course, and our European and Asian cousins have had the chance to get their hands on it months ago. In fact, our friends over at CNET UK have given their own hands-on impressions of the device. However, I finally had a chance to get my hands on it at CTIA 2009, and I was excited to try it out.
The LG Prada 2 is definitely designed for the fashion-conscious, with its smooth glossy black surface and slim profile. The touch-screen display is a 3-inch capacitive multitouch interface with active Flash user interface and is very easy to use. The menu interface is clearly an upgrade over the original LG Prada; much smoother and sleeker than before. The multitouch interface meant we could zoom in and out of Web pages by just pinching our fingers, like on the iPhone. If texting was a chore on the original Prada, it shouldn't be on the Prada 2, thanks to the great slide-out QWERTY keyboard. The four-line QWERTY keyboard is roomy and the keys feel good to type on.
The Prada 2 comes with a host of features that puts the original Prada to shame. They include dual-band HSDPA and quad-band GSM (which means you can get an unlocked version and use it on a U.S. GSM carrier), Wi-Fi, a full HTML browser, stereo Bluetooth, TV-out, FM radio, a document viewer, 60MB of internal memory, a microSD card slot, and a 5-megapixel camera. The camera has similar editing features to the Viewty, like the ability to record slow-motion video.
Of course, if you want to really bling it up, you can get the Prada Link Bluetooth watch to go along with your new Prada 2. You can't really make calls with it like a watch phone, but you can see incoming caller ID and read text messages with it.
The LG Prada 2 by itself will cost around $549 unlocked since it isn't available from any U.S. carrier. We'll attempt to get a review unit of our own to test out, but you should also check out the reviews on CNET UK and CNET Asia.
On Sale Now: $392.94 - $449.99
View the latest prices for LG PRADA KF900 - cellular phone - WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
SINGAPORE--Four years after LG Electronics and Prada began their cross-industry collaboration combining technology and luxury goods, mobile phones today remain the focal product of their partnership.
Matteo Sessa Vitali, vice president and licensing director at Prada, noted that a mobile phone is very much a personal accessory, with many similarities as the other products offered by the luxury goods company. "You carry it with you and it tells something about you," Vitali told ZDNet Asia in an interview.
Preserving the original touch-screen design of its predecessor, the new LG-KF900 features a QWERTY keyboard that slides out.
(Credit: LG )The ability to add LG's technology in Prada's portfolio gives "a lot of value" to the company's product, he said.
Chang Ma, vice president of marketing strategy at LG Electronics' mobile communications division, said the partnership with Prada provides LG much-needed insight to the luxury goods market.
Chang said, during the interview, that Prada's strong understanding of this market and its openness to innovation encouraged LG to introduce luxury goods--an initiative it would not have undertaken alone, due to the company's limited knowledge of the market segment.
He noted that the first Prada phone the partners collaborated on was a "full" touch-screen-enabled phone, launched some four months before Apple introduced the iPhone.
The executives were in town Thursday for the local launch of LG's latest edition of the Prada phone.
Preserving the original touch-screen design of its predecessor, the new LG-KF900 features a QWERTY keyboard that slides out. Other upgrades include 3G support and HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) speeds of up to 7.2 Mbps, and a 5-megapixel camera.
... Read more
LG's line of phones you can't get
We didn't see too many new U.S. devices from LG this year at CES 2009, but we did get a good look at some of the company's handsets that are only available in Europe or Asia. Of course, the LG Watch Phone stole the show earlier in the week, and that's slated for a Europe-only release date. We also got ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
Not that the LG Prada II will make it stateside any time soon, but LG has recently launched a celebratory microsite for the Prada II, officially welcoming it into the world (Flash haters beware; the site is very Flash heavy).
As you might recall, the device has some pretty impressive features--dual-band HSDPA, quad-band GSM, Wi-Fi, a full HTML browser, stereo Bluetooth, FM radio, TV-out, a document viewer, 60MB of internal memory plus a microSD card slot, a 5-megapixel camera, and a luscious-looking 3-inch capacitive multitouch display with active Flash UI (we're almost certain the iPhone has a patent on that multitouch thing, but maybe LG is referring to something else). In other words, we're looking forward to this.
And of course, to go along with your fancy new Prada phone, you might want to pick up an equally stylish Prada Link Bluetooth watch. I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of Bluetooth watches (they're usually too big for me), but this is made from stainless steel and genuine leather, is waterproof, and looks quite nice. You'll be able to view incoming calls and texts from it, but voice communication is not supported, so you can't talk into it Dick Tracy style. And, of course, it's still a watch, so you get things like an alarm, stop/snooze, and world time.
It sounds like the Prada II will be available in certain European countries (Italy, the U.K., France, Germany, Spain, and Netherlands) for 600 euros before Christmas. No word on pricing or availability for the Bluetooth watch, but we'll make sure to let you know once we find out.
As for whether it'll be available from a U.S. carrier, my guess is no (since the original LG Prada wasn't officially available here either), but we can dream, can't we?
(Via Engadget Mobile)
(Credit:
LG)
We reviewed the original Prada phone more than a year ago and loved its style but weren't happy with its lack of support for 3G. On Monday, LG announced the second generation of the phone, and guess what? It will support 3G and more.
Design-wise, the new Prada will look almost identical to the original, with one major difference: a QWERTY keyboard that slides out from under the handset. The keyboard is very thin and therefore won't make the phone much thicker.
The keyboard is definitely a welcome addition for those who like typing on the phone. You can, of course still, use the onscreen button to manage calls the same way you would with the original phone.
Apart from 3G support, the new Prada's features include video calling capability, a full HTML browser, a 5-megapixel camera, and Wi-Fi capability.
The new phone will be available with a starting price of 600 euros (about $820) though major EU mobile dealerships in the fourth quarter of this year. For now, it's unclear when or if the phone will be available in the U.S.
The LG Prada II
(Credit: Boy Genius Report)Last month, we showed you a sneak peek of the LG Prada II, which will supposedly have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard as well as touch-screen controls. Well, the Boy Genius Report has dug up some supposed specs of the Prada II, and it looks to be quite good. Features include quad-band GSM/EDGE as well as dual-band HSDPA (!), a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with flash and VGA recording, Bluetooth 2.0, Wi-Fi, a motion sensor, and an FM radio.
We're pleased with the dual-band HSDPA announcement, as it means we'll probably see it stateside. Whether it'll be picked up by a U.S. carrier remains to be seen, however. The 5-megapixel camera is also very promising, as is the addition Wi-Fi. Do keep in mind that these specifications haven't been confirmed yet, but if they are, we're extremely excited to see the real deal when it does come out.
The LG Prada II?
(Credit: Boy Genius Report)Remember the LG Prada? Yeah, that fashion touch-screen phone that preceded the original iPhone by a few months.
Well, according to this tidbit by the Boy Genius Report, apparently LG is planning to release the LG Prada II, but this time it'll have a slide-out QWERTY keyboard as well. Little is known about the Prada sequel so far, but there is this picture of it floating around, and it does look like LG just slapped a QWERTY keyboard on the old hardware.
We hope its features will improve upon the original with a better megapixel camera, more internal storage, and 3G support. We'll see if the Prada II makes an appearance this year, but until then, we can only dream.
(Credit:
MobileWhack)
It will take more than the iPhone for Europeans to give up on Prada. Even with a price tag approaching $900, more than 700,000 of the touch-screen designer handsets have reportedly been sold.
It was only a matter of time, therefore, that LG followed the traditional path taken by all luxury phone makers: put out a special edition. Slated for 18 continental countries, the "Silver Edition" will come with a QWERTY keyboard and a bevy of accoutrements, including a matching pair of earphones and a leather case, acccording to MobileWhack.
It just goes to show that, once again, all that glitters isn't gold.
(Credit:
Prada)
Here's how to ruin a thing of beauty. Find a Prada phone, one of the most gorgeous handsets we've seen, and attach a scruffy miniature teddy bear to it. Worse yet, dress the little sap in some tiny Prada label too, then charge nearly $100 for it.
That pretty much sums up this line of phone straps marketed by the design house, as seen on Chip Chick. And believe it or not, the teddy pictured here actually isn't nearly as hideous as some of the others in the "Mobile Trick Quirinos" line, such as those clad in pink, red, and white.
Why Prada chose to do this, especially after coming out with some lust-worthy accessories immediately after launching its phone, is beyond us. Then again, we've never understood high-end designer labels; the closest we've ever gotten to them is the new arrivals at Ross.
Touch screen phones like LG's Prada, Samsung's Armani, and some other big seller seem to drive home the point that touch screens are here to stay, and are likely the future of the phone market. Typing accuracy isn't exactly the easiest feat when your digits hit the screen, since your fingers obscure part of the image. Mitsubishi Research Labs has a solution to provide the elegance of a touch screen interface without obscuring the screen. It calls it the 'transparent interface.' Rather than poking at the front of a screen idly, researchers placed sensors at the back of the device. Sure, the clunky test device in Mitsubishi Research Labs' research video doesn't exactly hit that sweet iPhone-esque design spot, but the tech behind the 'transparent gadget' is, at the very least, interesting. Could we see the tech implemented in the next version of the iPhone? We're not holding our collective breath, but we wouldn't mind seeing this tech show up in a device or two.
[Via New Scientist]
